True Love

     “As a bridegroom rejoices over his bride, so will your God rejoice over you” (Isaiah 62:5b).

     This is a strange way to think of God. A groom looking at his bride? Weird. Yet as I think about it, I’m not sure if there is anything more beautiful. 

     As a bridegroom watches his bride come down the aisle toward him, he does not began to count all of her flaws. He doesn’t list all of the mistakes she has made. He doesn’t think of her bad days, her broken promises, or the things she said and later regretted. He doesn’t take note of every concealed pimple or one ounce of weight gain. No, as he gazes at his bride, his whole being is filled with love for her. She is a jewel. She is a rare treasure of priceless value. He would do anything and go to any length for her. And now she is his.

     This is a small taste of God’s love for us. Obviously, it isn’t a perfect analogy because we are imperfect, and no human groom can even began to compare to the perfection and the unrelenting, forgiving, and all-encompassing love that God has for us. Yet it is a foreshadowing of the love to come when Christ returns. It is a reflection of the love that is here now for you and I. He longs to love us. This God has “wooed” us, called to us. As a man in love pursues a woman he values above all else, God went so far as to come down from His glory in the highest of heavens to pursue us. Jesus didn’t simply tell us He loved us. He died so that He would have the joy of having us with Him for all eternity.

     “As a bridegroom rejoices over his bride, so will your God rejoice over you.” He rejoices over you. You bring Him --God of heaven and earth, King of kings and Lord of lords, Creator and Redeemer--great joy. Let Him love you. This is what He desires.