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“The marriage of the Lamb has come and His bride has made herself ready.”   Revelation 19:7b  NASB

Reading the book of Ezekiel, I came upon a passage that nearly took my breath away.  In Ezekiel 23, God tells the prophet about the consuming sorrow He felt because of the two women He loved and eventually lost.   As I read on, I learned that these “women” were none other than a metaphorically representation of Israel and Judah.  I started wondering why God would speak so vividly about this situation.  Couldn’t He have just called them “Israel & Judah” to begin with?   The more I thought about it, I realized that God chose this language because He did not approach these two people groups as a parent scolding wayward children.  He loved them the way a groom loves a bride.  And the fact that these “women” not only flirted with compromise, but repeatedly sinned must have been a slap in the face of their beckoning bridegroom.

As this unique passage reveals, God is not aloof, looking down upon us the way that we might look at tiny ants on the sidewalk.  He’s beside us and within us, longing to love us…and have us love Him in return.  And just as He abhorred the idea of a diluted romance with Israel, so He must also detest the idea of a limited, tainted relationship with us.  So, as ladies in waiting, we must do all we can to put aside distractions and draw near to our beckoning bridegroom.  He’s waiting!

“Lord, help us draw near and stay near to You today.  Infuse our hearts with an ever increasing love for You.  Help us to love You, as You long to be loved.”

For His Glory

Claudia Dempsey
TRBC Coffee Break