Following Judah's Lion

Jesus is Searching for a Bride

Jesus is searching for a bride. He desires a bride who is completely committed to Him and in whom He has no worries of infidelity. He has given her His all, and He has every reason to expect the same from her. His love for her knows no bounds. He has lavished His grace upon her and given her priceless gifts. He has chosen her and bestowed on her His own worthiness. He created the universe for all creatures, but to His bride alone He has shed His blood. What greater love could Jesus have shown? Does His bride actually comprehend the depth of such love?

The things of this world cry like sirens to His bride and she inclines her ear. Listening at first, then contemplating, and finally compromising, she thinks she can love the world and love Him as well. It is a false construct and it only shames her Bridegroom. This bride has come to love all sorts of things that are at odds with Jesus. Money, power, success, America, entertainment, politics, and everything that mocks Christ is openly espoused by His betrothed and smears His matchless name. This bride does not wait patiently for her wedding day, she has created her own reception and is actively enjoying a party that hasn’t been thrown in His honor.

Vacant is her prayer closet while her television room is quite crowded. And she is content with an orthodox doctrine that describes His return but elicits no more fruit that would substantiate that faith than the unbelieving next door neighbor. She is adorned with the sins of the flesh and the sins of the spirit. Wallowing in the curse, the bride has lost all vestiges of the holiness that should identify her as His. Blinded by the brilliance of this present world the bride cannot even pause to take inventory of her own spiritual life. The Industrial Revolution has provided her with everything she ever wanted, and the fragrance of things fills her bosom.

Jesus is searching for a bride. And at the very center of this present predicament is unbelief. What we do is what we believe, everything else is just religious talk. And we are not the first generation in this ever widening departure from following Christ, and because we have been raised in compromise our consciences have been seared and our hearts have grown hard.

Oh that thou wouldest rend the heavens, that thou wouldest come down, that the mountains might flow down at thy presence, As when the melting fire burneth, the fire causeth the waters to boil, to make thy name known to thine adversaries, that the nations may tremble at thy presence!
When thou didst terrible things which we looked not for, thou camest down, the mountains flowed down at thy presence. For since the beginning of the world men have not heard, nor perceived by the ear, neither hath the eye seen, O God, beside thee, what he hath prepared for him that waiteth for him.
Thou meetest him that rejoiceth and worketh righteousness, those that remember thee in thy ways: behold, thou art wroth; for we have sinned: in those is continuance, and we shall be saved. But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.
And there is none that calleth upon thy name, that stirreth up himself to take hold of thee: for thou hast hid thy face from us, and hast consumed us, because of our iniquities.

Is this the behavior of the Son of God’s bride that lifts Him up and pours upon Him the glory due His name? Is this the chaste bride who inclines her ear toward her Bridegroom and is deaf to the calls of everything else? Is this redundant to and fro what Jesus desires from His own bride? And when the Father looks down from heaven and sees the churning sea of humanity that includes the inconspicuous segment that calls herself His bride, is He pleased? What kind of earthly bride is not consumed with the preparations of her upcoming wedding, but has settled into a lifestyle that mirrors those who are not betrothed? No sacrifice, no urgency, no excitement, no commitment, and little time spent with her bridegroom. What kind of a bride is that?

Jesus is searching for a bride. Not one that is haughty and looks down upon those who have not yet known her Bridegroom, and not even one who elevates herself among the rest who are betrothed as well. Humble and grateful, she awaits His return and prepares herself to please Him in every way. He has left instructions and she carries them out with a sacred obedience that manifests her love toward Him and all He says. Her preparation centers upon Him, and every determination to cleanse her heart is only for Him. Any accolades she receives, and any compliments about her faithfulness she deflects toward Him. He is her exclusive reason for living, and in fact, her very life is with Him.

This bride has seen her Bridegroom and He has captured her heart. He is without competition, and His being is unspeakable and full of glory. There can be no other, He is majestic. She melts in His presence and fully desires to please Him. His words are her life, and when He speaks her will is broken and her feet are swift to obey Him. With every ounce of her being she revels in His love and grace. She weeps at His wounds and her sin. She worships at His feet and is empowered to tell of her Bridegroom to one and all. She belongs to Him and no other. The things of this world are her constant enemies, and she knows all too well how they draw her away from her Love. She looks for ways to love Him more, and His presence burns away all that is not of Him.

Jesus is searching for a bride.

Can you hear Him?