I, Stephen, take you, Rebecca

Our Stephen and Rebecca
2004

"For this reason a man shall leave his father ad mother an shall be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh. This mystery is great; but I am speaking with reference to Christ and the church."" (Eph. 5:31-32)

In the wee hours of this morning, as I drove down Double Oak Mountain to a prayer service, I listened to the Indian-born Canadian-American Christian apologist Ravi Zacharias's sermon: I, Isaac, take you, Rebekah. 

I smiled.

I thanked Jesus.

Years ago, in an effort to rightly steer my Rebecca through the hills and valleys, heart-throb and heart-breaking, turbulent dating years, I gave her a CD of that same message, which God used to guide her into the arms of Stephen - her husband, her "ana duo", her companion in the work of the gospel.

The wonderfully mysterious union of a man and a woman in holy matrimony is a beautiful portrait of Jesus Christ and His church. In his letter to the Ephesians, the apostle Paul wrote,  "Husbands love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her...He who loves his own wife loves himself; for no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just a Christ also does the church."

O Christian, you are the bride of Jesus Christ, nourished and highly cherished. Rest in His arms today.