Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honor to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready. – Revelation 19:7
It’s the day before the wedding and confusion reigns. The bride’s mother has given the father of the bride a long list of errands that require driving here and there, picking up tables, chairs, barbeques, and a keyboard for use by the pianist who will accompany the singers. The father would like to leave town until it is all over!
Weddings do not just happen. There is a lot of planning ahead: searching for just the right dress, selecting the minister who will perform the service, finding the perfect location for the ceremony to be held, and arranging for the cake, photography, and flowers.
The wedding day is the bride’s day. Perhaps she has engaged a hairdresser so that each attendant and the bride will look their best. She may have a manicure, a pedicure, and anything else that she can think of so she will be the perfect bride when she is presented to her groom. She has made herself ready!
In Heaven, a lot of preparation is going on. The tables are being set for the Marriage Supper, where Jesus is the Groom, and a pure and holy Church, spotless and without sin, is the Bride. The bride is being arrayed in fine linen, clean and white, which is the “righteousness of the saints.”
Soon, Jesus will come back to take His Bride to that Marriage Supper. It is up to us, the Bride, to make ourselves ready, because when He appears it will be too late to get ready. In an earthly wedding, if the bride waited until the day of the wedding to get prepared, there would indeed be chaos! Just so, there will be no time to get ready when Jesus comes for His people.
Jesus is preparing a beautiful place for us. He loves us with an everlasting love—He cares enough to spend time preparing for His Bride. He is expecting His Bride to be looking for His coming, excited and anticipating His arrival. Her “trousseau” should be carefully packed, the arrangements all made, and she will be ready to go when she hears the cry, “Behold, the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him” Matthew 25:6. This may be the wedding day! Will you be ready?