Engaged! Part 2
by Angela Weir
In my previous Seed I wrote of the joy of our daughter’s engagement and I wanted to follow that up by a few further thoughts.
Before she met her, now, fiancé, she would speak of her longing to find a husband and of all the dreams she had of finding the right man to share her life with, and occasionally of her loneliness without a “soul mate”. The thoughts were all about her and her feelings, understandably, but something that is really noticeable in our daughter’s language is that her heart and her thoughts are now for what her fiancé wants and would like, not that she was ever a selfish person, but having found her lover, her thoughts are bent towards him.
This is how it should be with our relationship with Jesus. Before we meet Him, there is a longing and an emptiness in our hearts which might look for fulfilment in all sorts of ways. Once we have met Him and have invited Him to be our Lord, it may be that to begin with we are seeking Him for the things He can bring to us, healing and restoration into a broken life, perhaps. But quite quickly our attitude should begin to change into “what may I do that will please my Lover?” And we begin to seek how we can bring joy to the heart of Jesus. This is all part of our growing maturity as Christians and it may mean dealing with the things in our lives that are displeasing to Him, offering to go the extra mile for someone or learning a new skill which will bring glory to Him in some way. It may also mean that He will discipline us from time to time. It will certainly mean growing in our walk with the Lord and deepening our understanding of what it means to be a disciple. (I was really challenged recently when I read in David Davis’ appreciation of David Wilkerson’s life that he used to spend three days a week in prayer!)
Are we still babes in our relationship with Jesus or are we learning to take solid food instead of milk as the writer to the Hebrews says (Hebrews 5:12 -15)? It isn’t to do with trying to earn Jesus’ love, because we already have that, but it is everything to do with bringing Him joy.
Prayer: Lord Jesus, It thrills me to know that You are my intended Bridegroom. Please show me how I may best please You and bring joy to Your heart, and if it means that You need to discipline me, so be it. Amen.
Angela Weir has been associated with Ellel Ministries from the very beginning, first as an associate member of the ministry team and later as an associate teacher. She trained as an actress before moving to Cumbria, where she taught drama in a girls’ school. She now teaches and ministers at various Ellel Centres.
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