A Suitable Bride
Though we never attend in person, our favorite part of the Iowa State Fair is the livestock--the cows and bulls and sheep and pigs--and the stories behind their care and upkeep by the farm-bred teenagers of this area. Each year the television coverage of the fair includes vignettes about some of the kids who raise the livestock shown there. For anyone with a jaundiced opinion of youth from media reports weighted toward the seamier underside of society ("12-year-old Stabs His Friend over Sandwich"), these stories have the capacity to stir the soul. A recent story told about a seventeen-year-old girl raising pigs. Farmers are first business men and women, and the youth participating in such programs as 4-H and FFA (Future Farmers of America) learn early on that farming is a business. Their animals are not pets (they learn not to name them), but a commodity to be bought and raised, and eventually sold at a profit. Farming is hard work, and this teenage girl was no stranger to the rigors of the agrarian life. There was no trace of an "but I'm a girl" attitude as she mucked out the stalls of her swine, hauled feed and hay, helped the vet wrestle them into a cage for weighing, and groomed them in preparation for the fair. The story showed her driving the family pickup into the town to pick up a load of sawdust from the local feed store, heaving the bags into the truck's bed herself. And don't think that this teenager was some beefy Amazon, either. In fact, in both face and form she could easily have been a cheerleader, or her school's prom queen."Let us rejoice and be glad and give the glory to Him, for the marriage of the Lamb has come and His bride has made herself ready." It was given to her to clothe herself in fine linen, bright and clean; for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints. Revelation 19:7-8 nasbu
This farm girl was a hard worker, sober and well spoken, honest--and attractive to boot. Watching the story about her, I kept thinking what a great wife she would make for some fortunate lad. As an ex-fashion photographer, I remember well the vain, self-absorbed twits with which I often had to work. Not all of them, but many could do little more than just stand there and look pretty. It could be that she wouldn't smell better, and maybe she wouldn't be as sophisticated or refined, but, frankly, I'd choose that farm girl over those empty-headed models any day. All of which makes me wonder how we--as the Bride of Christ--are doing in God's eyes. It has nothing to do with our salvation, or place of eternal residence, but I wonder if we are living lives that are honorable and true, becoming people of substance. Jesus doesn't want just another pretty face; He wants a bride of character and grit, someone capable of doing some heavy lifting once in a while.For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. It teaches us to say "No" to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, while we wait for the blessed hope--the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good. Titus 2:11-14 niv