So if you haven’t heard, I’m engaged! Van-Kim and I started dating (or courting, depending on your Christianese dialect) on May 17, 2011, and we got engaged on September 22, 2013.

Since then, I’ve been getting all of these congratulations from all sorts of people. People I haven’t seen or talked to in years. Even people I had never met before. Phone calls, texts, emails, Facebook comments, etc.

I went to a Cru fall retreat last weekend, and I would meet people who would say, “Sorry this is kinda weird, but I actually already know who you are. And by the way, congratulations on the engagement!”

One person I had never even met before wrote me a Facebook message saying that my engagement post was very heart-warming.

It’s quite fascinating. People love it when others get engaged. And they’ll probably love it even more when they get married. It’s an interesting phenomenon, that people all of a sudden feel okay speaking into the life of somebody that they would otherwise never talk to. It’s just that, for a brief moment, people are able to take their eyes off of the mundane problems of their lives and very briefly rejoice with somebody else.

I’m reminded of a passage in the Bible that I studied in a small group a few weeks ago. John the Baptist says of Jesus in John 3:29-30, “The one who has the bride is the bridegroom. The friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly at the bridegroom’s voice. Therefore this joy of mine is now complete. He must increase, but I must decrease.”

What an interesting thing to say. “Therefore this joy of mine is now complete. He must increase, but I must decrease.”

Some people find joy when their friend who is getting engaged increases. “I’m having a bad day, but at least I can be happy for my friend who is getting married soon.” Some people find joy when their favorite sports team increases. “I’m having a bad day, but at least the Ravens won today.” Some people find joy when their political candidate increases. “I’m having a bad day, but at least Ron Paul got some air time on CNN.” But John the Baptist says that when Jesus increases, his joy is complete. Nothing satisfies the human soul more than to know that Jesus is increasing. Nothing turns a bad day upside down more than to witness Jesus marry His beloved bride.

And the best part of it all is that we’re not just spectators of Jesus’ wedding. We’re not even groomsmen or bridesmaids. We the church are the bride. We’ve been settling for half-hearted men who just use and abuse us all our lives, and we are finally getting married to the ultimate bridegroom. Wow.

Therefore, this joy of mine is now complete.

Larry