I went to see the One Direction movie with my daughter tonight. She is a fan.
It is good to spend time with her doing things she likes to do.
I have heard a few songs from this band but had no real opinion one way or the other.

The movie brought insight, in a way I did not expect.
I kept wondering, through the first part, how the group got so big.
Their beginnings were odd. They had nothing really going on before Simon, found them. Putting them together was a fluke. No love bonds there. What kind of supernatural effect is going on, that they should rise to the success they have found?

Then the movie talked about the girls. How they decided to make this group famous. They devoted their lives. They sacrificed. They made their intention their priority.

And wherever you see the virtue of God, you will likely see His purposes.

I saw it when Jesus, beside me, said, my bride will be like that. My bride will behave that way and feel that way about me. I felt his longing. And I saw, in the success of one direction and their fans, in their relationships, lies a picture of Christ and the bride.

Even the wooing that goes on, the tender first meeting, first kiss songs they sing, all speaks of an opening love.

And when one of them, in interview, commented, he was not sure if someone could love him for just him. he would wonder, do they love him because he has all this.

And I saw how Jesus solved that problem, for the pure love he wants. He gave it all away.

Through the rest of this movie, seeing from this perspective, all the rest came into place. This explains the wild success. God is allowing it to stand as a model that is a microcosm of what it will be like in days to come. And of course there had to be so many of them, how else could it be a legitimate picture of our Lord unless there was diversity and differences and many changing ways that come together in unity.

Their title. One direction.
Of course. He knew. And he knew I would be seeing it today, with my daughter. And that I would share with her the day that is coming, when the bride will emerge wholehearted with single purpose and self sacrificial love.

My heart leaps and my spirit stirs. Not what I was expecting when I entered the theater. But it was what he anticipated, and now I rest in the delight of finding the alignment he offered today.
Surely he does all things well. selah.