the Fourth Week after Easter
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Daily Devotionals
Voice of the Lord
Since I am going and preparing a place for you, I will return to take you with me (John 14:3).
Hidden in the Jewish marriage tradition is a divine mystery. The journey toward marriage begins with the Jewish groom visiting the house of the bride, paying a bridal price, and sealing the marriage covenant. The bridegroom would then leave the bride and return to his father's house. The two would then spend a year in separation during which time they would be considered husband and wife. These were the Days of Preparation. For the groom, it was the time to prepare a house for the bride. For the bride, it was the time to prepare herself for marriage and for her new life with the bridegroom.
Two thousand years ago, the Bridegroom of our souls, Messiah, visited our house, paid the great bridal price to set us free, and then returned to prepare a place for us in his father's house. So what are the days in which we live? These are the Days of Preparation.
If you are Messiah's bride, you are not here on earth to get caught up in money, success, circumstances or self-centeredness. These are your Days of Preparation for eternity. Use them wisely, saying good-bye to the old, pressing on to the new, and becoming more and more beautiful in his eyes.
...write down one area I need to let go in order to give myself wholeheartedly to the Bridegroom.
JC
The Voice of the Lord, Copyright © 1998 by the Lewis and Harriet Lederer Foundation, Inc. Published by Messianic Jewish Publishers, Distributed by Messianic Jewish Resources, www.messianicjewish.net. All rights reserved. Used by permission. No part of this article may be reproduced in print or on the web, or transmitted in any form, without the written permission of the publisher.
