Wedding

Have you said, “I do.” to Jesus?

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Because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. Romans 10:9 ESV

On our block, there are twenty people I call my neighbors, and in my directory, I can find a dozen others, that I call our friends. But over the years, the names on all my lists have changed except for one: my wife, Nancy. If, like us, you had a traditional wedding ceremony, you said words like these “Do you _____ take ___ _for better or worse, for richer, or poorer, in sickness and in health; and, forsaking all others, be faithful as long as you both shall live?”  In the exchanging of vows, we entered what the Bible calls a covenant relationship. The same is true with God, and for us to be more than just the friends and neighbors of Jesus, there must be a moment when we say, “I do.” In the wedding ceremony there are more than vows, there is also the moment of the exchanging of rings.

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My wedding band remains on my finger, as a public statement that I belong exclusively to Nancy. She has a say in my affairs that no one else does. It symbolizes our inner commitment. In Christianity, God has a ring for us to put on called baptism. Once we have said, “I do” to Jesus and confessed Him as Lord, we put on His ring by being baptized. Though the water doesn’t make us a believer, it shows God, as well as my friends and neighbors, that I have accepted Jesus as my Lord, that He is in charge of the affairs of my life, and I gladly put on His ring. But, as the commercials say, “wait there’ s more!” After the vows and the exchanging rings, there comes a moment when the minister turns to the groom and says, “You may now kiss the bride.” For most of us guys that was no problem. We were delighted to do so! In the Christian life, Jesus also has something like that kiss, called communion, The Bible says that as often as we do it, we remember His death until He comes. The death of Jesus was His ultimate act of love, to pay the price for our sins so that we could go to Heaven and live forever with Him. Yes, eternal life is wonderful. Heaven has streets of gold, jewels in the walls and beautiful places for us to live, but best of all, it is an eternal covenant relationship with Jesus. If we have fallen in love with Jesus, that relationship all begins at an altar, with a vow, “Jesus is Lord.” A ring, “following Him in baptism” and a kiss, “remembering His death in communion. Jesus is a wonderful, loving, and eternal Lord. Have you said, “I do” to Him?

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Remembering Joy

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Whom having not seen, you love: in whom also now, though you see him not, you believe: and believing shall rejoice with joy unspeakable and glorified;                          1 Peter 1:8 Douay-Rheims

If we would be honest all of us would have to confess that the moments of joy that we experience are pretty few and far between.

plates and wine glass on table

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I recall the moment when I kissed my wife at the altar  and said, “I do.” But that sweet memory was immediately followed by long work weeks, bills and little arguments that conspired to dim our happiness. A year later our first son was born and we cuddled him looking into those deep blue eyes with contentment and pride; but then came his fussing till two in the morning; throwing up on my shirt just before I left for work and yes; more bills.

The Apostle Peter tells us that no matter what our experience in life is; there is a far better celebration to come. Here God blesses us with little glimpses of joy, but a joy is coming that we cannot explain. Because He is our loving Father; God gives us just a taste of heaven now and then; but one day at the banquet table with Jesus we will find heaped high on our plates His fullness of a joy that will last us forever!

First Love

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But I have this against you that you have abandoned the love you had at first.   Revelation 2:4

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As Jesus spoke to the church in Ephesus He began by listing all the great things about them. They had been faithful, worked hard, held up under persecution and had stayed away from false teachers. Sounds like the best church in town! But then Jesus brings up the burden of His heart; they have left their first love for Him. It might seem as if He was being hard on them, but the Bible tells us that the church is the bride of Jesus Christ. He is the bridegroom, waiting at the altar in heaven, with His eyes focused on us. He has loved us and given us his very own life so we can live with Him forever. In His heart is a longing to be with His bride but when He looks down He sees something changing. His bride’s heart that once longed to run to spend time in His presence is now very busy. She still thinks from time to time of Jesus, but she is also quite involved in a lot of other things. Everything seems so important that soon her schedule is so full that there are only a few moments left for Jesus.

Then He looks and sees His people not only too busy for Him, but also too busy to bother much about telling others about their need for Him. His heart is longing to see us again totally living for him. What will it take for us to go back to our first love? How will we ever return to where we once were? Jesus tells us clearly. He does not say; “Feel really bad and cry and pray.” He does not add, “Give some more money to the church.” He doesn’t even say, “Go out and start feeding folks at the soup kitchen.”  All of those things are only a pale substitute for the “First Love” that Jesus has in mind.