I was jogging this morning when I caught a glimpse of the sparkly wonder that is my engagement ring. When I exercise, or do anything that involves getting dirty, I remove all my jewelry and nice clothes in favor of grungier, less valuable things. And yet this most valuable possession of mine is always with me, whatever it is that I'm doing (excluding activities that may end up in no ring at all, like swimming at the beach!). It's beautiful -- and not the type of thing I think of when I hear the words "jogging apparel."
And yet, there is goes with me as I run. It is a mystery, a treasure, living in the routine that is everyday life. It is beauty and wonder and love taking part in ordinary, commonplace tasks like vacuuming and chopping onions and taking out the trash.
What a symbol of marriage! A sacred institution of God, translated into everyday banalities and ordinary life. It is a mystery, a picture of Christ and the church, a joining of two separate lives into one indistinguishable entity. But it is also doing the dishes and watching a movie and talking through the monthly budget. We fail to see the mystery because it is obscured by the all-too-obvious, but the mystery remains to be pondered.
Which, by the way, reminds me of something our pastor was preaching on in Revelation 21. The Church is compared to a jasper stone, which apparently is a gem very similar to a diamond. Our pastor used the point to illustrate the glory of the church as a reflection of Christ's glory (because diamonds reflect light), but that got me to thinking again about my engagement ring. This ring, a symbol of Josh's love for me and the worth that I have to him, is only a tiny picture of the value that the Church is to the Lamb. Josh's investment in the ring signified his willingness to provide for me, to financially commit to me. How much more has Christ committed to His own diamond, His Church! How much He paid first to buy it, then to refine, cut, and set it so it would be ready to reflect His glory.
No comments:
Post a Comment