Marriage Relationship

Yesterday was our mom's brunch and I shared a short devotional about bridal imagery in the bible. Along with the imagery created to compare the presentation of the bride with the second return of Christ, I found other relationships between the marriage process and salvation.
First we date, we get to know each other and study one another. We take time to learn each other well. We also have this sort of relationship before we come to know Christ as our Lord and Savior. We read His word, learn His truth, and feel those first flutters of the Holy Spirit's call. God is drawing us unto Himself.
Then comes the propsal. We are chosen, given a promise and it comes down to a choice we have to make.
The wedding day is the first moment of our lifelong commitment to our spouse. The bride and groom make a sacred vow, a promise to one another to live each day together for better or for worse. A life in Christ is not promised to be easy, in fact Christians are to "consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds (James 2:1-4)." As stated in my own wedding ceremony, marriage was the first establishment made by God. Even before the church, God established the relationship between a man and a woman. Both with a wedding and a salvation experience a walk down the aisle is sometimes invloved.
Now to the reception, the celebration of a new life together! "In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents (Luke 15:10)."
Lastly, we "leave and cleave" in our married life. (Gen. 2:24, Mark 10:7) Likewise in our spiritual life we leave our old life behind and begin a new life in Christ. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come (2 Corinthians 5:17)."

Bridal imagery is popular among the prophets Isaiah and Jeremiah, and even noted in the New Testament book of Revelation.
Isaiah 61:10
10 I delight greatly in the LORD;
my soul rejoices in my God.
For he has clothed me with garments of salvation
and arrayed me in a robe of righteousness,
as a bridegroom adorns his head like a priest,
and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.
Isaiah 62:5
5 As a young man marries a maiden,
so will your sons [a] marry you;
as a bridegroom rejoices over his bride,
so will your God rejoice over you.
Jeremiah 2:32
32 Does a maiden forget her jewelry,
a bride her wedding ornaments?
Yet my people have forgotten me,
days without number
Revelation 21:9
9One of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues came and said to me, "Come, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb."

Also noting the importance of marriage, we know that Jesus's first miracle was performed at a wedding:
This, the first of his miraculous signs, Jesus performed in Cana of Galilee. He thus revealed his glory, and his disciples put their faith in him (John 2:1-11)."

Just as I think back to our wedding day and our first moments as husband and wife, I want to remember my first moments as a new creation in Christ. It was a sweet moment and a specific point in time where I remember making the determined decision to follow Christ for all of my days. This memory comes flooding back to my heart when I sing the following lyrics in "I Could Sing of your Love forever": "For I will always sing of when your love came down." I realize that not everyone has a certain hour they remember making the decision to follow Jesus. However, I'm sure they can remember when their life began to change forever.

On this Valentine's day I have remembered my first love, Jesus Christ. I also cherish my relationship I have with my husband. I pray that God's love will always reflect in the love Jon and I share. I know His love was there on our wedding day.