Try to imagine a marriage like the following example and consider how you would react if you were the husband in this illustration.
Your wife only comes to the house once a week and only stays for about an hour. Sometimes she doesn’t even show up every week and it may be two or three weeks before she comes back to the house. In the meantime, you don’t hear anything from her at all—she avoids all communication completely. In fact, there are times when she is in the house that she doesn’t even come close to you; you know she’s there and are aware that she is speaking, but it just seems to be empty words that she doesn’t really mean. You have done so much to reach out to her and to make a true difference in her life. In fact, your love for her is so deep that there is nothing that you would not give up for her. You wrote her a letter to let her know of your love and expectations for your relationship, but it is as if she never read it. Years earlier she had accepted your marriage proposal, but now it seems like all she wanted was the quick gratification, stability and security that the marriage would provide without ever committing to the work and effort that a healthy marriage requires. If you were this husband, how would you react to the disinterest of your wife?
In Romans 7, Paul assured those Christians who had converted from Judaism that they were no longer bound to that old law. Paul told these Christians that they were “married to another—to Him who was raised from the dead…” (Rom. 7:4). Revelation chapters 21 and 22 depict the church as “the bride” of Christ.
The Christian individually and the church collectively is married to Christ. To put it in today’s vernacular—Christ is the husband and we (individually and collectively) the wife. Go back and read that paragraph about the disinterested and uncommitted wife. Read it two or three times. Does it, in any way, describe you?
How often are you in your Lord’s house? How do you worship Him when you are in His house? Are the words from your lips coming first from the depths of your loving and grateful heart? Do you truly draw close to Him? Do you realize all that your Lord has done for you, even before you accepted His “marriage proposal”?
Why did you marry Christ? Was it for the quick forgiveness? Or, are you committed for the long haul?