"You yourselves can testify that I said 'I am not the Christ but am sent ahead of him'. The bride belongs to the bridegroom. The friend who attends the bridegroom awaits and listens for him, and is full of joy when he hears the bridegrooms voice. That joy is mine, and now it is complete. He must become greater; I must become less". (John 3:28-30)
I started thinking about the dynamics of the relationship that John the Baptist is describing here. There are many different illustrations that describe our relationship with our Heavenly Father, but I really liked this one. The bride being followers of Jesus, the bridegroom being Jesus, and the friend who attends is here John the Baptist, the best man. The more I went down this trail the more real and alive this relationship became. I applied this to my life to fill in the appropriate roles for my relationship with God, and how the bridegroom proposes to the bride. He chose me! I proposed to my wife Katie and asked her to marry me. She didn't propose to me! (even though she was putting the Rick Pitino full court press on) I pursued her just like God pursued me.
John 15:16 says, "You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit - fruit that will last". I feel as American believers we get jaded to the idea that He chose us because we grow up for the most part hearing about Jesus and still rejecting Him. Since John the Baptist was the best man for Jesus who prepared the way for Jesus' ministry, I started thinking of the best men in my spiritual wedding with Christ. A lot of emotion came over me reflecting on how Christ proposed to me, and who was standing up at the alter supporting me or helped me get to that point of surrender. I have had several best men in my life who have helped prepare the way for my relationship with Jesus.
My good friend Andrew and I were discussing this past off-season a similar comparison. Andrew was talking about when you go to the Atlanta Humane Society to adopt a dog how the puppy room is the main attraction. The majority of people who get dogs there get puppies. They're cute, new, you can train them, and they are in good health. I have walked in the other room with the other dogs that are two years or older and nobody is over there. These dogs are old with health conditions, skin diseases, bad hips, and probably a case of hardenheart worms. These dogs just look like they have had a "RUFF" life. (I may have lost all creditability with that one) Cool thought to think that God adopts those dogs as well, bad hips and all. I definitely wasn't a saint my entire life, and it is still awesome to think how God pursued me bad hip and all much like I pursued my wife Katie.
- Wes Hodges
** Wes is currently playing in the San Francisco Giants organization
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