I had just worked out, and was preparing for a time of prayer, here at a conference at beautiful Branson, Missouri. I was having a first cup of coffee and reading through the paper. And it was there I saw a striking illustration of what we should be as the Church. Here is the scoop. In the Tuesday, June 2, 2009 edition of the USA Today, on page 3A, I read about a bride from Bridgeport, Conn., who was leaving her own wedding reception when she spotted “thick smoke pouring from a home. ‘Stop the care, stop the car!'” She yelled. Then, she bounces out, and still clad in her wedding gown, she dashed into the burning house and helped to save a family from perishing.
I put down my coffee, went up to my room, and still in some pretty sweaty clothes, I began to think about the Bride of Christ, the Church, in the Word of God.
Then came one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues and spoke to me, saying, “Come, I will show you the Bride, the wife of the Lamb.” Revelation 21.9
“Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church. Ephesians 5.31-32
The Bride of the Lamb exists in the context of raging fire, plagues and the heartache and sorrows of this life. She does not exist for herself but for Her Husband, Christ Jesus. And here is the thing: some of those in burning houses, needing to be saved, are also His people, not yet brought to the altar of faith. To see a bride running into the burning buildings of this life to save others is a picture of what we really ought to be doing.
Lord use me this day. Let me not focus so much on my own role as your Bride that I fail to fulfill your purposes. Lord, I would pray that you lead me to burning buildings, but they are all around. So I will pray that you will give me the selflessness and courage to go to those are trapped in those places. Give me a heart for the world like yours. In Jesus’ name. Amen.