In Jewish tradition, when a man and a woman were engaged to be married, the time of the wedding was set for whenever the groom finished preparing a space for them in his father’s house. The bride’s job was to be ready for him at any time. She didn’t know when he might be done and come to sweep her away to the wedding ceremony. If she wasn’t ready at any given moment, she could be caught unprepared. Even in the night, an oil lamp was lit to let him know that she was ready for him then.
Jesus said to his disciples in John 14, “In My Father’s house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you. If I go to prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also.”
Jesus is calling His disciples His bride. He’s saying, ‘I’m going away for awhile, but don’t for a minute think that I’m not coming back for you.’ And here we are, 2000-something years later, and we have yet to be retrieved by our bride-groom. But His promise is as true as the day He spoke it. He has been preparing a place for us so that we may go and be with Him, and meanwhile the story continues here on Earth. So we wait for His return, we anticipate our wedding day, though we don’t know the day or the hour.
Though, as I look around, it seems that instead of anticipating His return, we have forgotten altogether that we are to be waiting for Him. We’ve become distracted and discouraged. Distracted by the deafening call of the world to buy into the thought that this is all there is, we’ve believed the lie that life is about you finding your own happiness and fulfillment, so go out there and make it happen. It’s all about the Here and Now.
But there is supposed to be a hunger in us. There is supposed to be a longing that can never be quite filled. Because He has set eternity in our hearts, and we are made to hunger for heaven, to hunger for the day we will be face to face with our Creator.
Yes, but the Here and the Now is so easy to grasp, so satisfyingly instant. So we become distracted. Then when the world’s promises for fulfillment fall short, we become disillusioned and cynical. This is so far from what we need to be as those who hope in Christ! He is calling us to lift our eyes and fix our gaze on Him, the author and FINISHER of our faith. He has yet to bring this story to close, but He will. And we must be ready.
Have we become a bride that has forgotten that our groom is coming for us; asleep…disheveled…fallen out of love? Because He has not forgotten about us.
It is my firm belief that as the bride of Christ in this nation, we must get serious about the work of preparation, clothing ourselves with truth, love, unity, and a seriousness about God’s Word. Jesus is coming back to bring us to the wedding, and it is our responsibility to make ourselves ready for Him. I do not want to be one who finds herself unwilling and unable to run out and meet Him because I have not cultivated my readiness for Him. I am determined to grow an intimate anticipation for the moment that we will get to be together.
This has been a growing passion in my heart for the last year. This is the heartbeat of most of the songs I have been writing. This is the message I want to deliver. So, in my quest to find beautiful and poignant ways to say this one thing, I was able to collaborate with my dear friend, Erin Williams, who is a talented photographer, and who has a similar heart and style. We created a photo-series that visually portrays the story of my song I’m Coming Back, which embodies this message.
Please check it out to see the fruit of a serious labor of love… There are some ridiculous and fantastic stories that could be told about the making of this video, but perhaps that will be for another blog. For now, just watch and listen.
