Adorned

Adorned

I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven like a bride beautifully dressed for her husband.

Revelation 21:2

When my daughter was in her late teens, she and I loved to watch the TV show Say Yes to the Dress. It features a wide variety of potential wedding gowns, from simple to extravagant. All of them are costly, and the idea is that viewers can watch each bride choose a dress that best reflects her style. Wedding dresses in an Amish community are very different:

Blue is the typical color chosen for Amish brides—a variety of shades of blue . . . or sometimes purple. An Amish bride usually makes her own dress, and it’s similar to the dresses she wears every other day of the year. The dresses of her two attendants, known as newehockers (Pennsylvania Dutch for “sidesitters”), are often made from the same cloth. . . .

All three dresses are plain and mid-calf length. There is no beading, no sweetheart neckline, and no train. We all know that for us Englishers the thought of wearing our wedding dress more than once would be crazy . . . yet an Amish bride wears her “wedding dress” as a nice church dress after she is married. Many times she is also buried in that dress when she dies. Or buried in the cape and apron she wore on her wedding day. There is no veil either. Often the young woman wears a black kapp to differentiate from the white one she wears daily. There is also no bouquet—the beauty reflecting from her smile is her only adornment. And her groom sees her as a beautiful bride indeed.

A beautiful site to God is the new Jerusalem. It’s a symbol of the heavenly world He has prepared for us, his bride. The city is splendid and glorious and more wonderful than we can imagine. It’s a symbol of His eternal commitment to us.

What does it mean to you that God compares your heavenly home to a bride? Does it make you feel cherished and honored? It should.

Dear heavenly Father, thank You for all You’ve done to prepare a heavenly home for me. I adore You.