Why Jesus and I Have Different Tastes in Brides

When I think of certain qualities I would like to have in a wife one day, an unfaithful whore is usually not the first one that comes to mind. Rightfully so, because I think that might get somewhat frustrating after a while, the whole being maried to a prostitute thing. It's not like I sit down and think about this everyday or anything like that. But with the little thought I have given it, I've come to the conclusion that it wouldn't be the kind of thing I want to pursue.

I love the fact that God tells his love for us through stories and not just formulas. I think it's quite significant actually. He doesn't give us five easy steps to salvation; He paints a beautiful picture of it. After all, a picture is worth a thousand words, or something like that. Tucked deeply within the story of the Old Testament is an intriguing book called Hosea, where Hosea is told to go marry and be faithful to a whore named Gomar. It's a beautiful story when you see it in light of Christ's unending and relentless love for His bride, the Church.

I think every whore in the Bible is a picture of the Church, because they all find redemption somehow. This is the Church: disgustingly dirty, and then made clean. What's interesting to me is that Jesus would want Her as His bride. We a broken and filthy body, and yet the King of the universe has decided that He wants us. It's like the Prince of a country going down to the local stripjoint to find His bride. He looks at her with love in His eyes, and says, "I choose you."

If there is anyone in the Bible that I wouldn't want to be, it would be Hosea. I couldn't imagine how painful it must have been for him to go into to the city with money in his hands to buy back his wife. People probably heard him in the streets yelling for her to come back, and I'll bet he had tears in his eyes.

I once liked a girl in High School who kept going back and forth with her feelings between me and a few other guys, and that was one of the most painful experiences in my life. I would pour out my heart to her, only to have her turn on me for someone else within weeks. And this happened multiple times. I felt as though something deep inside of me was ripped out, and right as the wound began to heal, it would happen again.

And I began to wonder if Jesus feels like this when we betray Him. Oh how passionate we are for Him at church, conferences, or mission trips, only to stab Him in the back a few weeks later by turning to other things we find more interesting. And like Hosea, He comes running down the road with tears in His eyes and the richest currency in His hands to buy us back, His own blood. Of course He does it with joy, but I'll bet it still hurts. Love comes with a price.

What excites me is that one day the Church will be suitable for Christ Jesus. As believers, we are not to be unequally yoked (2 Cor. 6:14), and the same is true for Christ. He cannot be paired with a bride less righteous than Himself. And so now we are being refined and purified for Him; on that wedding day, when we walk down the aisle, the glimmer in Christ's eyes will be a reflection of His spotless bride, made completely pure for Him.

So if you look at the Church and don't like what you see, you're not alone. Don't be discouraged friends; what great hope there is for us. It's not yet time for the wedding. He who began a good work in us will complete what He started (Phil. 1:6). Behold, He is making all things new, even His unfaithful bride.