the marriage supper of the lamb

i have recently begun to read some of kevin deyoung's books and articles after i was given "just do something" last year by a friend (highly recommend it for college seniors). my friend shared this article with me by him on the gospel coalition website called "dude where's your bride?". with my sister and one of my best friends getting married, i have been eating, drinking, and sleeping wedding plans. to be honest, it's getting really old. but i know this will only happen once for them, so i'm trying to do the best i can. anyways...this article was really good b/c it addresses the lack of men in the Church. i know soooo many great, Godly women who would make amazing wives and mothers, but the males just aren't stepping up. i feel like this is something i have been talking about for years and haven't really seen any improvement (i did, however, meet the pastor's wife of a solid church in chicago that just prayed for single guys to join the church and take ownership of it. after a year or so they suddenly had more guys than girls. it was the first time i was ever outnumbered at a church event, and boy was it great! so i guess that means i should be praying more). i really liked this quote though:

"Women, don’t settle and don’t ever compromise on requiring solid Christian commitment in a husband, but make sure your list of non-negotiables doesn’t effectively exclude everyone outside of Mr. Darcy."

i learned pretty quickly into college that you can settle for a Christian, so it's important to have standards. although i have made of list of biblical husband qualities i desire, i have been trying to focus on becoming a godly woman. this is important because i may never be married, but i will always desire to be more like Christ.

i think the Church puts too much fame on marriage and that singleness is never celebrated. i think singleness is beautiful and you can serve the church in such a neat way. we are never promised marriage, nor is God withholding anything from me by keeping me single. everyone always feels sorry for me or apologizes for my singleness like it's a disease and i'm missing out on life. i didn't ask for a pity party and i don't want one. i want to be defined by something other than my marital status...you know like maybe who i am in Christ (forgiven, redeemed, restores, ransomed, a daughter of the Most High King).

i have been reading in revelation about the wedding feast of the lamb in lieu of the weddings in my life. i wanted to know why God gave us marriage and what it is pointing to. i have learned that marriage is the most clear picture for us as humans to understand the way Christ loves the Church. if your marriage is anything but the glory of God (like so you can feel fulfilled in life, have a family, not be lonely, etc.), then it's going to have problems. i love reading Ephesians 5 and Paul's exhortation to both the husbands and wives about loving and sacrificing for each other. i have watched my married friends love and serve each other so well that it points me to Christ; it teaches me more about His sacrificial love. my friends guarded their hearts, minds, and bodies for their spouse...such a rare thing to do these days. i am so thankful for each of you.

Saints, will you read this Scripture and dream about what it will be like the day we are reunited with our Bridegroom? there will be angels singing and music and Jesus will outshine the sun, but He will call us each by name to Himself. we will be reunited at last with our God, our King. we will bow down before him, shout praises to His name. there will be much rejoicing- a bigger party than anything you've ever dreamed of!! no wedding planner on earth can even dream about what this will look like! so i may never get a wedding on earth, but man, i can't wait for this one!


"Let us rejoice and exult

and give Him the glory,

for the marriage of the Lamb has come,

and his Bride has made herself ready;

it was granted her to clothe herself

with fine linen, bright and pure”—

for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints.

And the angel said to me, “Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.” And he said to me, “These are the true words of God.” Then I fell down at his feet to worship him, but he said to me, “You must not do that! I am a fellow servant the testimony of Jesus. Worship God.” For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy. "

-Revelation 19:7-10