Cook for Me
Can you picture the LORD in an apron at a BBQ, manning the grill? Or maybe in the kitchen mixing up His homemade mac and cheese or baking a sweet potato pie. Any way you look at it, that would be the ultimate privilege to have the Creator of the universe, the Savior of the world, make a meal, especially for you.
We love to eat. Food is the center of fellowship. Every good party or gathering has to have food, so imagine the party of all parties, the biggest, grandest get-together in the history of the universe, the Marriage Supper of the Lamb. It is there that God will cook for you, and He will cook for me. “And in this mountain, the LORD of hosts will make for all people a feast of choice pieces, a feast of wines on the lees, of fat things full of marrow, of well-refined wines on the lees” (Isa. 25:6).
What kind of occasion calls for the King of Kings to cook for us, to prepare a feast in our honor? Why, a wedding, of course...the wedding. Jesus Christ and His bride, the Church, finally wed. If you know anything about weddings in Jesus's time, you will understand that there were no little 24-hour white wedding chapels. Marriage took a three-step process beginning with a betrothal. This would have been the stage Joseph and Mary were in when her immaculate conception of Jesus occurred. Mary's parents and Joseph would have already signed a marriage contract, and Joseph would have paid a dowry solidifying their engagement (Lk. 2:5). As Christians, we are betrothed to our Savior as soon as we place our faith in Him. Our trust in Jesus Christ is significant of our engagement to Him, and God the Father has already paid the dowry through the blood of His only begotten Son.
The groom would initiate the next step in the marriage process about a year later when he would arrive at the home of the bride at midnight to escort her and the entire wedding party to his father's house where the marriage would officially take place (Matt. 22:1–4). The idea was that the bride knew to be ready for the groom’s arrival. She did not know the specific time, but she knew to anticipate his coming and be ready! This step is symbolic of the Rapture of the Church when Jesus escorts His bride from this earth to His Father’s house (1 Thess. 4:13–18)! Every believer on earth should be watching and waiting for the arrival of the Bridegroom. The Rapture is the vehicle, Heaven is our destination as Christ claims the Church as His bride and takes us to the place He has already prepared for us. “In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also” (Jn. 14:2-3).
The practice was to celebrate the newlyweds for days at a time (Jn. 2:1-2). So, in the third step of the marriage process, it was customary for the wedding celebration to last a whole seven days. When we are raptured and finally wed our Bridegroom, Jesus Christ, the Marriage Supper of the Lamb begins, and what a celebration!
Waiting…that is what we are doing now, waiting and allowing the Holy Spirit to do a work in us “that He might sanctify and cleanse us with the washing of water by the Word, that He might present us to Himself a glorious Church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that we should be holy and without blemish” (Ephes. 5:26-27). This is our chance to allow the Holy Spirit to prepare us to be the best that we can be for our Bridegroom. Do not let Him down, do everything you do on this earth as unto the LORD. Then, one day, you will be escorted on a first-class flight to heaven to attend the event to end all events, the Marriage Supper of the Lamb, where everything has been prepared by our Creator Himself, especially for you.
We serve a good God. He is gracious, merciful, kind, and thoughtful. God is so good to us that He has already told us His plans for us in His Word; all we have to do is read it and be assured that all is well.
If you do not know Christ Jesus as your personal Savior, now is the time to accept Him. Pray this prayer: "Jesus, You died upon the cross and rose again to save the lost. Forgive me now of all my sin, come be my Savior Lord, and friend. Change my life and make it new, and help me LORD to live for You." (Romans 10:9-10, Salvation Poem by Matt & Sherry McPherson). Congratulations! Now, prepare yourself, and I will see you at the Marriage Supper of the Lamb!
