None would, speaking generally, enter into matrimony who were not in love. Two cannot walk together except they be agreed. Again, we say, none would think of marrying because it was felt to be the right thing to do.
Marriage is an alliance, a covenant, and it is a common figure in Scripture for the relationship twixt and His people. We, collectively, are the Bride of Christ. Albeit, some of us, if we be honest with our own hearts, took our vows with very little love in our hearts. The writer speaks from his own experience, but also observes similar symptoms in others. It happens all too frequently that young people are baptized before love is really and truly born in them.
We do not, of course, think of love for Christ as the same thing as love for a partner in marriage, but the outward symptoms should be akin. There should be a strong desire to please, to serve, to cherish, that which is loved. There should be an eagerness for companionship, for fellowship, which is a sharing of the same desires, aspirations and ideals. Where these are absent there is no real love.
It is the simplest thing in the world to read these remarks, sit back and now, at this very moment, assess the state of our hearts. Dare we look into them?
“If ye love Me, ye will keep my commandments”. It is his command that we constitute ourselves a vigorous, healthy ecclesia, wherein all members love the brotherhood, cherish its foundation truths, preach the word, attend the lectures and Bible classes, care for the sick and needy. In short, an ecclesia in which the overmastering motive of each of us is expressed thus—”What can I do for the Lord?”. “The beginning’ is half the thing”, said the Greeks. If we begin now, at once, by performing one single act, hitherto neglected, we shall have renounced the past—and the great reformation will have begun.
Reflections on the Potter and the Clay