Revelation 19:7-9 Let us rejoice and be glad and give him glory! For the wedding of the Lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready. Fine linen, bright and clean, was given her to wear.”
Who won the presidential election yesterday? I’m not sure whether Trump or Biden will be president in 2021, but I know who won the election. God did. We had an unprecedented turn out of voters for this election. God is surely up to something, and in a few days, He will reveal His plan. Regardless of the results, we have to remember that God is on the throne. We have nothing to fear. Our God is in control! The church is His bride, and He will care for His bride just as a loving husband cares for his wife.
I was reminded this morning of a mission trip we took a few short years ago to the Dominican Republic. We spent a couple of days up on the mountain ministering and providing medical care to Haitian Creoles. While there, we learned that in their culture, if a young woman and man wanted to be together, the girl would leave her home to go and be with her “husband,” and then the young man was responsible for his new “bride” from that moment on to provide and care for her. They referred to this as “jumping through the window.” After they were together as a couple for five years, they were then considered to be married to one another. While there, we met a young man who had a “jump through the window” marriage, and was working hard to make his relationship right in the eyes of the Lord.
We don’t have to jump through any windows to become the bride of Christ, but people we have to realize that a relationship with Christ is an active, growing relationship that is strengthened each and every day. I fear that all too often there are Christians that have a “jumping through the window” attitude. They jump out and make an emotional decision to become a Christian during a moving sermon, a revival, or perhaps at a retreat. This religion thing looks inviting and sweet. They want a little taste of it. They make a decision to be a Christian in their head, but they never make the decision in their heart. They want to follow Christ at that moment, but when the moment is over, they slowly return to their old ways and previous life. They do not respect the unity of marriage between themselves and Christ. They jumped through the window, but they didn’t stay with the relationship for the whole “five years” needed to make it a legal marriage and the relationship just fell to the wayside.
When we make a decision to follow Christ, it is not merely a head decision. It has to be a head and a heart decision. We have to fall in love with Christ and allow Him to rule our hearts and mind. What are the two greatest commandments? “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind; and, Love your neighbor as yourself.” (Luke 10:27) We have to love the Lord with our whole hearts, souls, strength, and minds. It’s not a here today, gone tomorrow relationship. Christ’s love for us is eternal, and our love for Him should be eternal as well.
I jumped through the window and became a Christian at the age of thirteen. Oh, I’ve not been a perfect Christian. Many times, I have veered far off of the path that God laid out for me, but praise the Lord, He keeps calling me back. My relationship with the Lord grows closer and stronger with each passing day, just as my relationship with my dear, sweet husband does. How does it keep growing? I keep putting forth effort to strengthen my relationship with Christ. I wouldn’t have a very good relationship with my husband if I put him on a shelf and pulled him down once or twice a week for a visit would I? Absolutely not! We can’t expect to have a good relationship with Christ if we are treating that relationship the same way. We can’t just be Sunday morning, Sunday night, and maybe even Wednesday night believers. We have to be 24/7 Christians, y’all!
We can’t just jump through the window and expect everything to fall into place. We have to have an active relationship with Christ daily. How do we do this? Well, just like in our personal relationships, we have to stay in touch! We need to talk to Christ daily. Spend time in prayer conversing with the one who loves us most. Spend time in His Word. Read the Bible daily. Learn who Christ is as He exposes Himself to you through scripture. Root yourself in your relationship with Christ, and each day, your relationship with grow stronger and rather than just surviving as a Christian, you will find yourself thriving for Christ!
Don’t let the fear of the election results weigh you down. Christ is on the throne, and we are His bride! Lets quit acting like we just jumped through a window, and instead, let us really shine as the bride of Christ as He desires for us to!
Inspirations from the Funny Farm 