And the Bride Has Made Herself Ready – Pt.3

Being Clothed

“Let your waist be girded and your lamps burning.” (Luke 12:35)

Jesus continued:

“and you yourselves be like men who wait for their master, when he will return from the wedding, that when he comes and knocks they may open to him immediately. Blessed are those servants whom the master, when he comes, will find watching. Assuredly, I say to you that he will gird himself and have them sit down to eat, and will come and serve them.” (vv.36-37)

Jesus painted a picture of a servant being ready for the return of his master. Like this servant, we are waiting for the return of Jesus. Nobody knows the day or the hour but we are called to be ready for that day.

Jesus said “Let your waist be girded.” This idea is lost to some of us who do not understand the dress of Jesus’ day. The men wore robes that went down to their ankles. The problem with this attire was that it was difficult to run, pick things up etc. So if you had to do something in a hurry (go meet the master in a hurry) you would “gird your loins.” This involved reaching between your legs and pulling up the bottom of the robe and tucking it into the belt. It made the person look ridiculous but it was effective.

Now, notice Jesus said “Let” your waist be girded. In the Greek the word girded is in the passive tense, meaning it is something be received. In other words, God is the one who girds us up and He is the one who lights our lamps. This distinction is quite important. We have to allow Him to work in our lives to get us ready. The picture I get is a person of wealth who has a butler. The butler helps him to get dressed. Now, the person being dressed can’t fidget and move around. They must submit to the dressing, knowing it is needed.

Going back to our key verse for this series, see this following verse.

“Let us be glad and rejoice and give Him glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready. And to her it was granted to be arrayed in fine linen, clean and bright, for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints.” (Rev 19:7-9)

It was granted for the bride to be “arrayed” in fine linen. Again, these clothes were something received. The clothes were awarded to her, much in the same way a Purple Heart is awarded to a person in the military for showing extraordinary bravery. Do not think I mean the bride earned anything by her own works. No, she cooperated and responded to the Bridegroom.

There is a beautiful picture of Joseph being clothed with a coat of many colors.

“Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his children, because he was the son of his old age. Also he made him a tunic of many colors.” (Gen 37:3)

This beautiful coat was the result of the deep love of Joseph’s father. Likewise, God clothes us, His beloved children. We need to start seeing ourselves as the object of our Father’s love. Joseph’s coat also carried a level of authority. People recognized it wherever Joseph went. They would no doubt say “That surely is the son of Israel” and treat him accordingly.

“and has made us kings and priests to His God and Father, to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.” (Rev 1:6)

Again, see it. “He has made us…” This is God’s doing and we are the receivers. As kings in His kingdom we exercise our spiritual authority, reigning with Him. As priests we minister to Him and to His people.

Beauty Preperations

In Esther chapter 2 King Ahasuerus begins to seek for a new Queen. It was advised to him that virgins should be brought to him and that they should undergo a series of preparations. The preparations lasted 12 months – “six months with oil of myrrh, and six months with perfumes.” (Esther 2:12)

To us, the bride-to-be, these preparations represent the Holy Spirit getting us ready. The Holy Spirit is the great wedding planner and knows how to get us ready. Now I am sure Esther and the others didn’t always feel like getting the beauty treatments but they were absolutely needed. The point of the treatments was to make her attractive to the king. It worked. See how Esther was described:

“The king loved Esther more than all the other women, and she obtained grace and favor in his sight more than all the virgins; so he set the royal crown upon her head and made her queen instead of Vashti.” (Esther 2:17)

You see, the treatments went beyond the physical. She “obtained grace and favor in his sight more than all the virgins.” Likewise, our beauty treatments are meant to make us attractive to Jesus the Bridegroom. But we must submit to the treatments prescribed to us.

When it was Esther’s turn to approach the queen she was given the choice to take “whatever she desired to take with her from the women’s quarters to the king’s palace.” (Esther 2:13) But it is said that she “requested nothing but what Hegai the king’s eunuch, the custodian of the women, advised.” (v.15) Hegai is a type of the Holy Spirit. Esther had a submissive, trusting heart. She could have been tempted to add something to her treatments but no she trusted Hegia. We too, must trust the Holy Spirit to prepare us the way He knows is needed. Let us not try to add anything to what He has prescribed.

“Let us be glad and rejoice and give honor to Him, for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and His wife hath made herself ready.” (Rev 19:7)

So, how to we allow Jesus to gird our waist you ask? It is very simple. Sit in His presence daily. Wait on Him. Read and study His Word. Let His Word master you. In doing so you will be clothed in Him. Remember, from Ephesians 1, we have all things IN Christ. It is in Him that we are clothed and made ready. We don’t know when He will return but we do know that if we remain in Him we’ll be ready to open the door.