claimed

It's a beautiful afternoon in Nashville and I am so excited just for the chance to sit down and write. So far it's been an incredible day of sweet worship and community-- two things I've been extremely blessed to find so quickly in my life in a new city. There's just something about the change of seasons that constantly reminds me just how sweet the Lord is.

A few days ago, I received a link to this video and the Lord sent me on an incredible journey after watching it. Take a look, it's totally worth your five minutes:

Are you amazed? I was. I mean, where has this truth been my whole life? What an incredible, beautiful picture of Christ's tangible love for the church.

And so, with this in mind, I felt the Lord calling me in my time with Him to read over that story again. It was so evident, in fact, that it just so happened I'd stuck my pen randomly in my Bible the day before right at Mark 14, the story of the Last Supper... and I knew I was out to hear something sweet from Him.

I chased the story of the Last Supper around from quite a few angles that afternoon but felt the Lord was constantly calling me back to something deeper. In verse 15 two of the disciples are called to go ahead and prepare the room for the supper. This notion of preparing can be unpacked a ton... but I really landed on this question:

What does it really look like for me to prepare myself to receive the covenant with Christ? What does it look like for me to prepare myself to accept His great proposal? 

If you are a Christ follower, you've already surpassed that point of preparation to receive the covenant (or essentially the proposal)-- you've already accepted it. I love the notion, however, that the two disciples were called to prepare the dinner for many. I know that there are people in my life who helped prepare the way for me to meet with Christ and I see now that it is my responsibility to help prepare the way for others to meet Him as well. But, for those of us who are in Christ, the question now has really shifted from that initial call to preparation to-

How do I prepare as I wait, after accepting the offer of Christ's covenant? 

We see from the video and know from Scripture that after accepting the marriage proposal, the man and woman each went back to their perspective towns to prepare-- Him to build a home for her and her to wait until he returned at an unexpected time. Now, I've never been in her shoes, but I have to imagine that if my groom were coming for me at an unexpected time, I'd be working to be ready without ever being caught off guard. That's what our lives are to look like also-- that's what the disciples do after this point. The Lord has been showing me a ton of this through the early chapters of Acts.

But back up just a little-- the bride doesn't just return home to her usual day to day life. One of my favorite lines in the video was the mention that she went home and was no longer called by name, but rather called "one who has been bought with a price". Her whole identity changed. People knew that she had accepted the marriage offer based on the tradition of giving her a new title in the town.

Traditions are never really too far gone, and we can see that today people know that a girl has accepted a marriage proposal through the symbol of her wearing a ring. A girl wearing a ring says yes, I'm claimed- I'm taken. It's a symbol given that comes with both a promise and (let's be real-) a sacrifice on the man's part. Now, maybe I don't stand in the boat with the majority of the girls in the world, but to me it reflects far more on the giver than the receiver. It's not about something shiny, but rather it says look what he loved me enough to sacrifice for...

It doesn't say oh, she's engaged, but rather oh, look who she's been promised to.

It doesn't say look at me, but rather look who I belong to. 

A ring is a symbol of that commitment and the acceptance of that offer. People see it, and they know.

So what is the symbol Christ gives us when we accept His offer to become His bride? What will people see and know that we have said yes?

It's far more valuable and far more of a sacrifice than any earthly symbol.

It's life.

Let that soak in. Look what He loved me enough to sacrifice. He has given up everything that we might walk around proudly wearing the life He has given us.

And in the same way, it shouldn't say look at me, but rather look who I belong to. 

I don't know about you, but I was brought to humble tears at that realization. If we have accepted His covenant, His offer to allow us to be His bride even in the midst of our countless imperfections, we should wear proudly that new life He has given us. He has changed our identity. It should now be evident that we are to be referred to as one who was bought with a price. Because we were. Goodness, we were...

Let that soak in on this beautiful Sunday afternoon in the midst of whatever you may be doing. Does your life proclaim that you belong to Him?