The Chaplain's Corner




Guest blogger, Chaplain Paul, is one of the most effective chaplains in America today. He is an emergency responder to every situation.

Hey, this is the Chaplain again.

With a look of panic on her face the pretty girl in the TV commercial says, "The wedding was only days away when I realized my teeth needed whitening." I've seen the commercial a lot lately; maybe you have too. They are selling some product that allegedly makes your teeth super white, in just three days - yea, sure it will. And
so we all run out and buy it.

Everybody knows you just can't live without super white teeth - especially if there is a wedding coming and you're the Bride! The Bible talks about the Church, that is genuine born again followers of Christ, as His Bride. (check Revelation 19:7 & 22:17)

Sometimes I wonder just how interested we Christians, the Bride, are in being ready for the wedding. How important is it to us to be at our best when the Bridegroom, the Lord Jesus Christ, comes to claim us as His bride? Are we as concerned about how we look as the bride in the TV commercial? Or have we forgotten that the wedding is soon? We don't know when, but just looking around tells us it could be soon.

May I talk straight with you? Some Christians, maybe you or maybe me, aren't always as ready for the wedding as we should be. We get dirty, i.e. we sin. Yes, Christians sin. 1 John 1:9-10

"If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives."

King David, a man after God's heart, recognized his sinfulness when he cried out,

"Take away my sin, and I will be clean. Wash me, and I will be whiter than snow." (Ps. 51:7)

A Bride should be beautiful, and we can be. Not in and of ourselves, but clean in Christ.

"The blood of Jesus washes all our sins away." (1Jn. 1:7)

I can't tell you how that works but I know it does if we sincerely ask for it. I have, and continue to, need and experience His cleansing in my life.

How about you?