The Joy of Celebration & the Cost of a Wedding Feast
As I remember my own wedding, the beautiful day of being a bride, I’m unable to separate joy from cost. Being a presentable bride clothed in righteousness doesn’t come without cost. Loving Christ always costs something; this cost is the crucible of life which refines Christians into pure gold. We are able to offer ourselves as pure before the groom when we bear our own cross with hearts of worship (Bible: Romans 12:1). It is important to remember we are not a dead sacrifice or a dirty bride, but a beautiful bride and a living sacrifice. A living sacrifice is someone able and willing to submit to truth and obedience of the Word.
For me, this reality was tangible the week of my wedding. I said “yes” to Nathaniel, my groom, and within 7 days I was on a flight away from the familiar. Saying goodbye to my mother and father was harder than I’d hoped. There was a cost to being with the groom. I have absolute zero doubt, from the foundations of my story, birthed in the heart of God, Nathaniel was meant to be my groom. Perhaps some people have marriageable options…they see a few people they could possibly be with. But Nathaniel was for me and I for him. And so the choice and the “yes I shall covenant with you” was easy. But that “yes” has never made the sacrifice less. I hold in my heart no less love for my father who taught me so much and the mother who bore me. Yet I am, and will always be with my husband.
Therefore, the beauty of the celebration of joining with Jesus as his bride has a two-fold blessing. On this side of eternity, to be with and seek the face of Christ always asks us for a covenant relationship… a willingness to pay the cost. We give up something. Some things can be very good to give up: we give up our sin (and all its forms). But sometimes we give up our own desires for the glory and the magnificence of God. When we go low and humble our lives in obedience, God is made great.
On the other side of eternity, all our give-ups are rewarded, and we can be with those we love easily. We can live without sorrow and suffering.
I would therefore say to any Christian and any bride: Don’t be discouraged by the cost of a covenant relationship. Instead, be encouraged knowing that the joys and celebrations of loving a husband and loving a God far outweigh the burdens of the world.
Author of this article: Suzanne Musson, daughter of Robert Legg.
