Primarily through His word, the Bible. One place where we get a glimpse into that truth is Ephesians 5:25-27, which suggests that a husband should love and sacrifice for his wife similarly to how Christ loves the church. It’s a passage about being a husband in a marriage, and yet by following the logic backward, we catch a glimpse into the husbandly heart of Jesus for His people:
“Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her, that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that He might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish.”
Think of how the ideal husband protects, provides, gently corrects, and helps make the wife the person she was meant to be. That is a small picture of what Jesus is to the Church. Obviously, most husbands miss the mark fairly widely; just as our earthly fathers can point us only so much to our Heavenly Father, so also earthly husbands can point us only so much to the Church’s eternal husband. But Jesus cares for us like a tender husband for His bride, and He “washes us…with the word.”
Have you thought about receiving the Bible like a washing from the very hands of Jesus? Sure, as you open up the book over coffee, or listen through Bluetooth in the car, or sit under a sermon on Sunday morning, YOU are doing something. But even more importantly, HE is doing something. He is reaching out to guide you, protect you, nurture you, beautify you, make you all that you were created to be…which is so much more than any of us can imagine!
How then should we receive the word?
-with meekness: not rebuffing the fact that we desperately need it.
-with eagerness: realizing this is a manifestation of Christ’s husbandly care for us today.
-with attentiveness: trusting that each time we encounter a passage it can “wash” over us in an even deeper way.
-with humility: looking to be mastered by this word ourselves, before we seek to pass it on to others.
“Your testimonies are righteous forever; give me understanding that I may live!”
Psalm 119:14