An on-going courtship

"Therefore I am now going to allure her; I will lead her into the desert & speak tenderly to her... "In that day," declares the Lord, "you will call me 'my husband'; you will no longer call me 'my master'. -Hosea 2:14 & 16 (NIV)

Courtship stage. This is when the man pursues the woman that he desires to be with. It is the man in pursuit of winning the woman to have her & be with her. It can be also taken as a getting-to-know-you stage where both parties can be more familiar with each other: their likes and dislikes, how they behave and know their families and circle of friends. People who are close to them can also be taken as their accountability folks. :) And courtship should be done with an intent of developing a more intimate relationship that will eventually lead to marriage.

Image from Facebook

That's the definition of courtship, well at least for me. But I will not be writing about courtship that only involves a single man & a single lady. I realized that we, the Church, is also in an on-going courtship stage with the Lord. This revelation came to me during the seminar that I attended for our Kids Church last Saturday. We can be called as His people, His servants, or His children, but we are His bride, too! Actually in all of our lives as long as we are still living here on earth, until our Lord is not calling us home or not coming back for His glorious wedding with the Church--we are in the courtship stage with Him.

"Let us rejoice & be glad & give Him glory! For the wedding of the Lamb has come, & His bride has made herself ready." -Revelation 19:7 (NIV)

Personally, before really knowing God & taking Him seriously, I realized that He was "courting" me. He's been good and gracious and sweet, but I wasn't just mindful or didn't care much of His "moves" to win my heart. But now after I decided to have Him in my life by saying "Yes" to Him, He is still "courting" me! Even we already have said "Yes" to God, He is still on the works of wooing us and pursuing us! He is still on the works of making us fall in love with Him more as we grow with our healthy relationship with Him. Interestingly, the more we know God, the more we will know ourselves. And in saying "Yes" to Him, we should also have in mind of being with Him now and forever! :)

Image from weddingwallpaper.net

Our relationship with God through Christ is like an all-purpose flour or... a swiss knife! Haha! ;) It's all rolled into one! He's our Father, He's our Lord, He's our Friend, He's our Counselor, He's our Savior, our Teacher, etc.! But He is also our Groom! No wonder apostle Paul wrote to the husbands to love their wives as Christ loved the church. All of the pruning & sanctifying that we are going through in our lives is for us to become holy & blameless Bride (Church) for our Groom (Christ).

"Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church & gave Himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, & to present her to Himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy & blameless." -Ephesians 5:25-27 (NIV)  

So yes! If you are in Christ Jesus, whether you are single, in a relationship or married... Even if you are a man, you are in an on-going courtship stage with the Lord! :))