Will you take me completely?

This weekend has been so good, and so revealing of who God is. Girls Reflecting Glory was so great- so many intimate topics were shared- How wonderful it is to be the bride of Christ!

• In ancient jewish wedding traditions, for a man to propose to a woman, he and his father would go to the woman's fathers house to negotiate a price for her- something that the man's family would pay. After they settled on a price, the man would give the woman's father the money,("Jesus paid the price") then ask the woman by pouring a glass of wine and handing the cup out to her. If she took it and sipped from it, it meant that she accepted. (Hmm.. sounds like something we do every sunday... Communion anyone?) "After taking the cup, he gave thanks and said, "Take this and divide it among you. For I tell you I will not drink again of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes." Luke 22:17-18
• After she accepted, she was required to go through some kind of cleansing ritual in "living water (meaning connected to an outside source, not just a pool) and was to be clothed in white. (Something like baptism? Also, Jesus is the "Living Water")
• While she was doing that, The man had to go prepare a place for his soon-to-be wife, a part of his father's house. He made a new room and added it onto the house, kind of like how jesus says, "In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you." John 14:2. He would promise to come back to her, where he would take her to the house and be with her forever. The young man, if asked when the day of his wedding will be, often gets rid of nosey inquirers by saying: “No man knows the day or the hour, only my father knows”. (Matthew 24:36) Wow.
• I'm sure the jews of the time obviously got this, and it may have been pretty wierd for some of the men, if not all. Shannon Etheridge, the speaker, quoted C.S. Lewis by saying something like, "God is so masculine, that everything, when compared to him, is feminine." Hallelujah! :)

This has just been ringing in my head over and over, along with the song Faithful to the End by Cory Asbury.

"And all will see the glory of this man

With fire in his eyes

He's jealous for his bride

He's faithful to the end

He's faithful to my heart

He's faithful to the end

He will come and marry me "

Marriage is the most intimate relationship EVER. Why would the God of the universe want that with me? Not sure, but I love him. I love him. Forever and ever. I have a husband who is the ultimate healer and provider, who can know exactly what I need and is so in tune with everything that I am. Even if I had a husband here on earth, he would not be able to fufill my emotional needs. But Jesus knows my emotional needs more than I do!