The Case of the Banished Bridegroom

                                                                                                By…Anonymous

    “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength,” Mark 12:30.

The Parable

     The wedding was over.  The confetti had been thrown.  The cake had been cut, and the presents opened.  Tom and his bride were alone at last.  As the car pulled away from the curb, the bride moved over to the far end of the seat, as far way from her new husband as possible. 

    “Tom, take me home!” 

    “Home, Kathy?  We haven’t started our honeymoon yet.  Our new home won’t be ready for three weeks.”

    “I don’t want to go to that house you are building.  At least not yet…..not for a long time.  Take me back to my apartment.” 

    Tom looked at his bride in amazement, but there could be no doubt about it.  She was serious.  His amazement grew as she continued.

    “Tom, I’m glad we are married.  I’ll try to see you once a week.  But as far as living with you is concerned, nothing doing!  I’m going back to my job, my old friends, and my old pastimes.  Oh yes, I do love you!  I’ve accepted you as my husband, haven’t I?  I belong to you forever, but I refuse to let you interfere with my life.  I’m going to live to please myself.”

    “Of course, if I’m sick or if I need money, I’ll call for you at once.  After all, I have accepted you as my husband.  In the meantime, thank you for loving me.  Thank you for asking me to be yours.  Thank you for being my husband, but keep your hands off my life.” 

The Point

    Such an arrangement as pictured would not be much of a marriage.  Rather, it would be somewhat of a mockery of marriage.  To accept a person as your husband or your wife involves an act of commitment to that person. 

    Such is exactly what it means to be a “Christian.”  Today there are many people who call themselves “Christians,” whose attitude towards Christ is exactly the same as Kathy’s attitude towards her husband.  They say, in effect if not in actual words, “Lord, I have accepted You as my Savior.  Thank you for saving me.  Now leave me alone!  I’m going back to my old friends, to the pleasures that I enjoy, and to my own lifestyle.  I’ll expect You to help me if I need it, since You are my Savior.  But as far as living for You is concerned, nothing doing!  I’ll try to visit You once a week by going to church on Sunday morning.  Of course, when I die I want to come and share the home You are preparing for me.  But I hope that will not happen for a long, long time.”

    Does one really belong to Christ if they act in such a manner?  Have they really accepted Him as their Savior and Lord?  Have they sincerely given their heart to Him?

 In Romans 7 we are told what is involved in becoming a true “Christian” believer.  The Apostle Paul, using marriage as an illustration, tells us that the Holy Spirit comes to us and points us to Christ who died for our sin and rose again in triumph.  Then he urges, “Will you take Jesus Christ to be your Savior and Lord?”

    And the true believer answers, “I will!”

    In that moment you become “married to another, even to Him who is raised from the dead,” Romans 7:4.   You become His, and He is yours, not for the years of time alone, but for all eternity. 

    The Word of God says, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved,” Acts 16:31. 

    Why then would you not want to live for Him who died for you?  Why would you not want to yield control of your life to Him, your Heavenly Bridegroom?  Isn’t any less a commitment on your part really just a mockery and a sham? 

    Remember, “….thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength:  this is the first commandment,” Mark 12:30.

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    “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service,” Romans 12:1. 

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    NOTICE:    The above article was copied from someone’s church bulletin nearly ten years ago.  I don’t know whose bulletin it was, and therefore have no way to credit them.  But the Lord knows who wrote it, and they will receive their reward in due time.  The message is so timely and so important that I just wanted to share it again with God’s people.  May the Lord bless it to the hearts and minds of all of our readers. 

Pastor F. M. Riley

Last Call Gospel Ministry