A Pure and Spotless Bride

In common with billions of others, my husband and I watched the royal wedding on television and thoroughly enjoyed what was a truly happy day which went off without a hitch. At the heart of all the ceremonial was the marriage of a young couple, quite obviously in love with one another, evidenced by the look in their eyes and their body language – not to mention the two balcony kisses! A lip-reader saw that William told Catherine as she arrived at his side at the altar, “You look beautiful, amazing,” and I don’t think there would be many who would disagree with him: she did, indeed, look stunning.

There had been so much speculation about ‘the dress’, and Catherine and her designer had cleverly managed to keep everything secret until the moment when she stepped out of the car at Westminster Abbey and it was it was revealed in all its glory, a fitting garment for a royal Princess.

In all the news coverage of the event, I was interested to read of the women who worked the lace for the bodice of the dress. They were students at the Royal School of Needlework, the youngest being just 19 and the oldest in her 70s. They came from all over the world – Japan, China, Thailand, Germany, the United States – and washed their hands every 30 minutes to make sure the lace was kept clean. They also renewed their sewing needles every three hours to ensure they were sharp, as each lace motif was stitched on with hundreds of tiny stitches. New thread was joined in carefully without a knot to spoil the effect.

All this led me to think of the preparation we should be making for our own ‘Bridegroom’, (the Lord Jesus). He is coming one day for a pure and spotless ‘Bride’, (the Body of Christ, the Church), and we need to take as much care as those needlewomen in how we prepare for His arrival. Are we dealing with the spots and blemishes (which spoil our lives) through confession, repentance and forgiveness? We all know that from time to time we sin, but we need to deal speedily with the consequences and trust our Lord Jesus to help us to do better in the future. In Romans 13:14 Paul tells us to ‘put on the Lord Jesus Christ and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfil its lusts’, and I understand that to mean that we allow more space to listen to what the Holy Spirit is telling us, we refuse to listen to the enemy and we continue dealing with our natural sinful nature. Words from Romans 12, read at the Wedding, are a good guide to us: ‘Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil. Cling to what is good. Be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love, in honour giving preference to one another; not lagging in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord; rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation continuing steadfastly in prayer; distributing to the needs of the saints, given to hospitality’ (Romans 12:9-13).

Prayer: Lord Jesus, I’m excited to think of You as my royal ‘Bridegroom’ and I want to be a beautiful ‘Bride’ for You. Lord, You can help me in the cleansing process, and I trust You to point out the blemishes and help me to remove them. Please help me to be willing, even if it is sometimes painful. Thank You, Lord, Amen.