Betrothed

Imagine that this is your story.

You’ve had the same circle of friends since junior high school. You’ve all done fairly well since then with a few of you going off to college, one went to the military and the others stayed local and got local jobs. But all in all, no real desperate tragedies to speak of amongst you. Every so often, you and your friends hang out and enjoy a little nightlife. No drunken stupors but just social fun, a flirtatious glance here and there, with the occasional “phone number” exchange….all in fun.

While busy working the plans of your life to the best of your ability, in an obscure situation, you meet someone. Easy on the eyes but the more the conversation progresses, you feel your heart warm over with feelings that make just about everyone else disappear. You begin spending more and more time together. It’s sweet and comfortable. No pretense, no playing games and the honesty between you two has calmed all of your fears and has reestablished trust beyond your past rejections. They bring out the best in you and they promote you to being even better in all you do. The lifestyle is not lavish but it’s pleasant. Not overly consumed with anything but the time you’re able to spend together.

Then comes the day! It’s no secret that what you two have is rare and special. The kind of thing people search for a lifetime to find, but rarely ever do. You two make it official – engaged to be married!
Your heart has never felt SO full. You smile so much that your face hurts but even that pain disappears in the ebb and flow of joy washing back and forth over your heart. You know without a doubt, this is what love is supposed to look like, feel like….and all of a sudden…..the phone rings.
The voice on the other end of the phone shrieks with excitement “It’s hang out time again!” Oh Goodness! As caught up as you’ve been, you’ve totally dismissed the idea of your friends! They don’t even know you’re engaged.
You don’t want to just blow them off…well, you kind of do, but what kind of friend would that make you? Your lover tells you, “Hey, you go ahead and go out with your friends! You’ve got a lot of catching up to do. I’ll be fine here and I’ll see you when you get back “(confirmed by one of the biggest, most embracive and peaceful hugs you’ve ever felt).

So off you go. Of course your body is out with your friends but your mind and your heart is at home with your love. You really don’t want to drink. The music is infectious but even the usual dance floor swarm with your friends just aint what it used to be. And then the funniest thing – you are actually trying hard to avoid eye contact with anyone. This quirky thing makes you realize – It’s not that you don’t want to meet anyone, I mean, you really don’t, but you really want people to KNOW that you have a love like no other waiting for you at home. So you’re really trying to make it apparent that you don’t need drinks, you have love. The music in your ears is just a twangy clanging compared to the song in your heart. And you don’t want eye contact to communicate desire as much as you want it to display fulfilment.
You want your every action and every vibe to radiate that special thing you’ve found.

Here’s The Word:

Hosea 2:19 And I will betroth thee unto me for ever; yea, I will betroth thee unto me in righteousness, and in judgment, and in lovingkindness, and in mercies.

This verse speaks to the type of lover our God is. As New Testament Christians, we spend a lot of time getting an understanding of what it means to be adopted into family of God. We mustn’t stop there. We must go all the way through to end of God’s plan for the Church…not as only adoptees, but appointed to be The spotless Bride. Betrothed. And this thought should overwhelm us in the same way we would be if we were visiting the same old “night life” scene, with the same old “childhood” friends. We’d want to represent well! Any report back to our fiancé on our “out with friends” behavior, would find us confident and unashamed. We’d want the world to know the peace and comfort in the love we’ve found. This can be our story. Actually, this should be our story.
Seems like somehow along the way, in making sense of God’s Commands, we’ve made Him a commander, rather than a lover. The Bible says that 'God is love', not commands. We’ve separated the idea that His commands have a strong anchor in His expressed love for us in wanting us to receive the life He has for us.
God is not a step-father who’s either inconsistently temperamental or disinterested altogether. When we hold to a misguided view of Our God, how can we expect to show forth the light of hope that we have a relationship worth dismissing the whole world for. Far too often, I see and hear people that are ill-equipped to share this essence of love; communicatively or by action. Whether people receive Him is one thing, but I think we could do so much better. In all of this, I encourage you. Fall in love with the lover of your soul. It may seem odd, but it’s rooted in the TRUTH of His Word. There’s a wedding ceremony coming…and if you’re IN Christ, you’re the betrothed.

Song of Solomon 7:10 I am my beloved's, and his desire is toward me.


In Him,
Cros