A constant reminder from my ring finger

The fourth finger of my left hand is really an ugly thing. 

As a young girl, I tried to get a drink of water all by myself, using a large glass mug. I do not remember much of what happened, but I have been told quite a few times. Somehow I dropped the mug, it broke in the sink, and I cut my finger quite badly. I had to go to the hospital and have it stitched back together. The doctors apparently didn't have much with which to work. As a result, there is quite a large, twisting scar running down the length of my finger. I am not sure why, but this particular finger is also crooked, angling sideways toward my middle finger. As of this moment I have a band-aid on my finger because of a painful cut on my knuckle. It will probably turn into another scar. All in all, it is really an ugly thing. 

Occasionally I look at this finger, and I imagine how it would look with a wedding ring. The scars and the crookedness would be forgotten in the light of a sparkling little ring representing the intentions of a man who loved me, scars and all. I do dream like that sometimes. 

More importantly, though, when I think about these things my little finger reminds me of the ultimate Bride and Bridegroom. The Church, Christ's Bride, is not the prettiest of brides. Believers are scarred and crooked at the best of times. Yet Christ loved us and died for us, scars and all. He takes our scars on Himself and turns us into a beautiful Bride. It is Christ in us that makes us beautiful, makes us something more, just like a ring on my fourth finger would make the scars and crookedness fade to the background. Christ has truly taken us, a poor, weak, fragile and dirty people, and He has washed us, clothed us, redeemed us and loved us. He doesn't love us because we are perfect; He loves us because He loves us.

And I'm thankful for my scarred little finger, for it reminds me of this truth.