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June Bride June used to be the most popular month for weddings. “She’s a June Bride” was a phrase that worked itself into our vocabulary. June may no longer be the most popular month for weddings but weddings do give us an image of how God relates to His people. In Old Testament times God referred to Israel as His bride. He stated clearly that He as her husband would be faithful to all His promises of love, care and protection for His bride. Marriage was instituted by God as a special relationship in which one man and one woman pledge themselves to love each other in good times and in bad times, in sickness and in health, and forsaking all others, remain faithful to each other so long as they both shall live. God was faithful to His bride, but His bride was unfaithful again and again. God in His love sent “wake up calls” after “wake up calls” to win His bride back. The story of Israel in the Old Testament and, sadly, in the church of today indicates that God’s bride is not nearly as faithful as He is. In the New Testament, especially in the Book of Revelation, the image of Christ and the church is also that of a bridegroom and His bride. Jesus loved the church, His bride, and gave Himself up for her because He wanted to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to Himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless (Ephesians 5:25-27 NIV). As Christian stewards we are members of the body of Christ—His church, His bride. We are empowered by the Holy Spirit to be faithful stewards who seek to honor God and bless others through our wise stewardship of time, talents, treasure and all the other blessings God pours out upon us. By the way, Father’s Day also falls in June. Those of us who are blessed to have godly fathers know what it means to have someone in authority who really loves and cares for us. God, our Heavenly Father, loves us far more than any earthly father could. He demonstrated this by sending His only begotten Son to be our Savior and by showering so many other spiritual and material blessings upon us. Our response to God’s love and lavishness is what we call stewardship. Stewards are those who recognize that God is the Owner of all things and they are simply managers or trustees of that which God has entrusted to them. To make this even more personal think of it in this way: “God’s redeemed stewards, in partnership with and encouragement from fellow redeemed stewards, freely and joyfully manage all of life and life’s resources for God’s purposes.” Source is LCMS Stewardship Resources
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