1. How do you respond to the "fairy tale" ending to the story of Tamar?
I am a complete romantic...and that sounds like the perfect ending. No more ashes, or torn clothes, but beauty, a crown with jewels, and a new gown of fine linen...beauty for ashes!
2. How does the term bride differ from the term wife?
When I hear the term bride I think of a new beginning, a new life starting out together, a young love that will mature and get better with time, brides are beautiful, sparkling with joy and shining with love...The term wife brings to mind a more mature love, I see a wife as older, wiser, having dealt with more pain, sorrow, and the realities of life. There is joy and love in the term wife, but it is not as fresh and new as the term bride.
3. What does it mean to you to be the bride of Christ?
I think God not only describes us as brides to show the type of relationship we will have with Him in heaven, but also to teach us how He sees us today. When we get to heaven, all of us as one, will make up the Bride of Christ, and so we will have a fresh and new love, and a joy unspeakable. I think it also, may mean we will be youthful and vibrant, we will not be brides for a while and then become a wife...we will remain the bride, which means we will continue in that first love, and beauty for all eternity.
4. How can we make ourselves ready for the Bridegroom?
By making sure we know as much as we can about the Bridegroom, spending time each day getting to know Him and becoming His friend, and letting Him become your friend. I would imagine that we should also consciously work to have all of the fruits of the spirit in our lives, and that we should walk away from the sin in our lives and move into living a life that will please Him.
