Dear Explorer,
Read Luke 12:35-38
Jesus says that we should always be watching for His return.
The Jewish people had, at the time of Jesus, a beautiful example of this: the wedding day! You know that Mary and Joseph were espoused. That is like engagement but was legally binding. Let me give you some background.
In Jesus' time period, when a couple became espoused, both families met with the priest for a ceremony and then went back to their parent's homes. The man's responsibility was to provide a house with furniture. He also needed to be able to support his wife. All these things needed to be accomplished before he could “marry” the bride. The lady's responsibility was to start sewing all the bed linens, towels, dish clothes, make the pillows and furniture coverings, etc. All of this had to be sewn by hand – since sewing machines were not invented yet. During this time, they surely worked together to furnish their house with “his” and “hers”. But there was one thing they didn't discuss – the wedding date! Now, the parents of the groom were also very busy. They had to prepare food and drink for the entire community and the wedding could last a whole week! But all those preparations were a secret to the bride. She did not know when the wedding day was! This secret kept her watching the door because she knew that at some point her groom would arrive and whisk her away to her wedding without any warning! So, she had to be extra careful to make sure she was dressed and groomed properly every single daylight hour as the time approached. No pressure! She literally watched for her bridegroom all day even if she was busy doing something else – her eyes were always on the door.
Now, this is a beautiful picture of the way we should live. Always thinking about Jesus, our bridegroom, and about the beautiful place He has gone to prepare for us – Heaven.
We should be busy doing the things He's asked us to do. And we should watch our dress and make sure that we are cleaned up and ready to go by being obedient in all aspects of our life – because today could be the BIG DAY!!!
In His service, dale
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