Vows

I was at a wedding recently.  During the vows, the beautiful young bride spoke this promise to her adoring groom:

I promise to submit myself to you in all of life's endeavors

Wow.  The gravity of those words sunk to the bottom of my soul.  All of life's endeavors?  All?  I can't imagine making that promise, and keeping it!  I can't imagine saying those words to a fallible man!  That takes some guts!  But every day people make that promise.  Some even keep it. 

It made me think of my commitment to Christ.  Sure I might have trouble promising that to a fallible human being, but surely not to a perfect and Holy God who only has my good in mind?  Yet, I struggle struggle struggle to be submitted to him in my daily endeavors.  I ignore Him, rebel against Him, fail Him.  I've been thinking about these vows for some months now, but ironically am just now getting around to writing this post.  On this Holy Day.  Good Friday.  As I sit and meditate on how much I struggle to keep up my part of the bargain with Christ, I think about the commitment He made to me on this day thousands of years ago.  The cup of wrath that He had to drink to make me His.  I read a blog by Ann Voskamp this morning that nudged this topic into a focus that I hadn't before seen.  It explained everything so well, so deeply, as only her beautiful writing could.  Warning, it's heavy, and long, and meaty.  Not meant to be read on the iPhone in the drive through.  But worth it.  Worth the pause and reflection on this most Holy day.