The Friend of the Bridegroom

I Samuel 11-12; 1 Chronicles 1; 2 Corinthians 11 

“I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy. I promised you to one husband, to Christ, so that I might present you as a pure virgin to him.”

2 Corinthians 11:2

Those in vocational ministry like Paul or John the Baptist are ‘friends of the Bridegroom’ who prepare the bride for her wedding. When the friends of the Bridegroom steal the affections of the bride for their own needs or wants, they betray the Bridegroom. Our jealousy toward the pure devotion of the Bride of Christ is nothing like that of Christ. When we live with insecurity, people pleasing, and the fear of man, we allow our relationship with the church to influence our obedience to Christ. However, when our attention is firmly on Jesus and we live with devotion and obedience to him, our service with the Bride of Christ is by pointing her to the Lord himself.

Are we a faithful ‘friend of the Bridegroom’?

“Lord Jesus, my attention and focus are on you. Search my heart for any wrong motives in my service to the Bride of Christ, your Church, for your glory.”