February 24

Go and proclaim in the hearing of Jerusalem that this is what the LORD says: ‘I remember the devotion of your youth, your love as a bride, how you followed Me in the wilderness, in a land not sown. — Jer 2:2 BSB

Salvation is a gift—one of the choicest and richest gifts that a Triune God, whose very name is Love, can bestow. It is a portion, an inheritance, a treasure, and an eternal reality. Though the full possession, complete enjoyment, and total acquisition of this predestined weight of glory are reserved for a future state, the pledges, the firstfruits, the early clusters, and the first dewdrops of this eternal inheritance are given to the elect while they are still on earth.

In Scripture, the everlasting joy of Christ’s presence and glory is often compared to a wedding. Revelation 19:7 speaks of “the Lamb’s wife” and “the marriage of the Lamb.” Similarly, the Church is said to be “brought to the King in clothing of needlework,” just as the bride in Eastern traditions was brought by her father to the bridegroom. Yet, before the marriage celebration, there was an espousal period. As it says in Jeremiah, “I remember the kindness of your youth, the love of your espousals.” Paul also says, “I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ.” Even Joseph was “espoused to the virgin Mary before they came together.” Espousal, though it had the nature of marriage, was not the same as marriage. The couple did not yet live together, nor did they possess one another.

So it is with the spiritual life. In this life, we experience a spiritual betrothal, but the spiritual marriage will take place in the life to come. “I will betroth you to me in righteousness and judgment, in loving-kindness and mercies. I will betroth you to me in faithfulness, and you shall know the Lord” (Hosea 2:19-20).