A radiant bride greets her guests with a brilliant smile as she entered the reception hall after the wedding ceremony. She gracefully moved about the room, the train of her white gown flowing along the floor behind her, her veil cascading down her back.
She conversed with each guest one by one, taking the time to mingle and soak up the compliments. "You look absolutely lovely." "Your dress is divine." "I've never seen a more beautiful bride." "What a stunning ceremony." The lavish praises rang on and on. The bride couldn't be more proud or appreciative of the crowd's adoration. She could have listened to them swoon over her all evening long. As a matter of fact, she did.
But where was the groom? All attention focused on the bride and never once did she call anyone's attention to her husband. She didn't even notice His absence at her side. Scanning the room, I searched for Him, wondering, "where could He be?"
I finally found him, but not where I expected Him to be. The groom stood alone in the corner of the room with His head down. As He stared at His ring, twisting the gold band that His bride had just placed on His finger, tears trickled dwon His cheeks and onto His hands. That is when I noticed the nail scars. The groom was Jesus.
He waited, but not once did the bride turn her face toward her groom. She never held His hand. She never introduced the guests to Him. She operated independantly of Him.

This story illustrates what is happening between God and millions of His people. He betroths Himself to us, we take His name, and then we go about our lives looking for love, attention, and affection from every source under the sun except from the Son of God, the Lover of our souls.

Oh, how Jesus longs for us to acknowledge Him, to introduce Him to our friends, to withdraw to be alone with Him, to cling to Him for our identity, to gaze longingly into His eyes, to love Him with all our heart and soul.