Can you imagine the consummation? Of course to some it may seem more like a spectacle than a ceremony. She has been waiting for this day for what seems like forever. It hasn’t been an easy journey, but one that has been driven by expectation and now the day has finally arrived. But, it isn’t like most weddings. She isn’t the most beautiful bride. Her hair is out of place and her mascara is running. Her dress is in shambles and she is even missing one of her shoes. As she starts to walk down the aisle she even has a noticeable limp. No, her journey to this day has not been easy. And most would probably say she is not even fit to be a bride…

But as she walks down the aisle something amazing starts to happen. Her limp starts to fade a bit and all of a sudden her missing shoe finds it’s place. Her dress, though once disheveled, all of a sudden appears more amazing than anything Vera Wang could ever design. Her running mascara is smeared no more and her hair falls into place to complete the radiant picture of the bride she is meant to be. For at the end of the aisle is her bride groom. And in His presence she is being made holy to the shock and amazement of all in attendance. Because He has chosen…to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless – Ephesians 5:26-27.

May we, the bride of Christ, journey on with eager expectation to the day of our marriage feast and the coming of our Lord.