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Her Wardrobe is All Glorious

By Aneta Dodd

As young women, we all dreamed of our wedding day. We shopped for the perfect gown, planned the perfect hairstyle to wear with our veil, decided what the bridesmaids would wear, planned the bouquets, planned the decorations, planned the reception, made our guest list, and ordered the invitations. By the day of the wedding, many of us were exhausted from all the planning! We wanted it to be the perfect day to begin our life with the man we loved!! Do we put the same amount of effort in preparing our spiritual marriage? Jesus is our Bridegroom and we must begin our preparations to become His bride! In Matthew 25, we read of the virgins awaiting the arrival of the bridegroom. We are encouraged to be prepared.

Our passage of study today, describes the preparations of a princess preparing to marry the King. Let us look at four ways she prepared to meet her King and soon to be husband. First, she had to leave her father and family behind. She probably traveled hundreds or thousands of miles to meet this new king in his kingdom. I am sure the customs were different and she would have to adapt to these new ways in order to honor her King. In the same manner, we must leave the world behind in order to be pleasing to our God and Savior. This may require that we give up ungodly friends or family members. It will most definitely mean that we would give up the unrighteous lifestyle that we had followed until that time.

Second, she worshipped him; "Because He is your Lord, worship Him." This literally means that she would have bowed down to show him respect and honor. In the same way, we are to humble ourselves before the Lord and worship Him.

Third, her countenance created a desire in others to be in her presence; "The rich among your people will seek your favor." When we are living a life befitting the King, others will desire to be in our presence. It gives us the opportunity to introduce them to our Savior.

Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven. (Matthew 5:16)

Fourth, her clothing is of the finest quality with delicate gold embroidery. She is very stunning to behold. As Christians, we also are given a description of our clothing. It is not of the outward adornment but of the heart that God sees within each one of us. We adorn our spiritual selves with the righteous acts given us by the Lord to perform.

Let us be glad and rejoice and give Him glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready." And to her it was granted to be arrayed in fine linen, clean and bright, for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints. (Revelation 19:7-8)

That He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish. (Ephesians 5:27)

Let us all begin our preparations to meet our Bridegroom on that glorious day!

Questions from this passage:

1. Who is the Bridegroom?

2. In Matthew 25 what happened to the virgins who were not prepared?

3. Who is the bride of Christ?

4. Give two examples each of the lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes, and pride of life.

5. Describe the beautiful attire of the Bride of Christ (the church).