Last night was the ending of, in the famous words of Chris Harrison, “what may have been the most dramatic season yet of the Bachelorette.” We finally learned if the rumors surrounding Jordan Rodgers were true. We watched Jojo struggle emotionally one last time before saying “yes” to one lucky man. The questions of members of “Team Robbie” and “Team Jordan” and thousands of Bachelorette viewers were answered after weeks of anticipation.

Over the past couple months I have tracked Jojo Fletcher’s journey to find love alongside over 6 million other Bachelorette fans. After watching the clever attempts of contestants to make a good first impression on Jojo, laughing at all the crazy one-on-one date ideas, rolling my eyes at crazy cocktail party antics, and being filled with sadness at the end of each rose ceremony, I have seen almost every contestant’s relationship with Jojo begin, grow, strengthen, but ultimately fail. With each episode I started to think more about my own relationships, especially the most important one for every Christian, my relationship with the Lord.

FIRST IMPRESSIONS

The first night of the season, it is important that all 25 contestants make a positive first impression on the Bachelorette. When meeting Jojo this season, some men chose to ride up on a motorcycle or on Jojo’s favorite “animal,” a unicorn. Others dressed up as Saint Nick or in traditional Scottish garb. The contestants who failed to impress the Bachelorette were sent home before any real relationship could begin.

Unlike Jojo, the Lord is non-discriminatory when choosing who he wants to have a relationship with. The Lord has “examined us and knows all about us” (Psalm 139:1). He is aware of all the good, bad, and terrible things we have done and experienced, yet he desires to have a personal relationship with everyone in the world.

The man who makes the best first impression upon meeting the Bachelorette is usually chosen to go on one of the first one-on-one dates.

ONE-ON-ONE DATES

Near the beginning of the show, many contestants are satisfied with going on a group date. As the season progresses, getting a one-on-one date card becomes an important sign that a contestant’s relationship with the Bachelorette is strengthening and progressing. This season’s most memorable dates included a grape feet-stomping session at a winery, a strange private yoga class, a lesson in horse whispering, and a chance to participate in an artistic but erotic Argentinian aquatic show.

As Christians we do not have to wait around for a one-on-one date card to spend time with the Lord. God has given us the ability to easily connect with him through reading his Word, praying to him, and worshipping him through songs and praise. Even though the Lord has made it relatively simple to spend time with him, we often neglect to do it. We claim to be “too busy,” and drift slowly away from Him. If you have strayed from God, today I encourage you to “draw near to him,” knowing that he will draw near to you as well (James 4:8).

Those who get a rose on a one-on-one date usually do not speak much with the Bachelorette during the pre-rose ceremony cocktail party.

COCKTAIL PARTIES

A cocktail party is a contestant’s final chance to solidify his relationship with the Bachelorette before a rose ceremony. This season various circumstances often prevented men from having adequate one-on-one time with Jojo during cocktail parties. Some contestants would interrupt another man’s private conversation with the Bachelorette just minutes after it started. In early episodes a few men felt nervous speaking with Jojo knowing that this season’s villain, Chad, was lurking in the shadows spying on them. Occasionally the Bachelorette would cancel a cocktail party, leaving several men who were not “frontrunners” nervous and anxious.

Unlike the Bachelorette contestants who often had to compete with each other to get alone time with Jojo during cocktail parties, we don’t have vie with anyone else for the Lord’s attention and the opportunity to speak with him. We can connect constantly with God by praying to him. While we are telling the Lord our hopes, dreams, and worries, Christians all around the world are doing the same thing simultaneously. The Lord is omnipresent, and he hears every single person’s prayer. Because the Lord is always with us, we should not be afraid to “pray continually” (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18).

At the end of each cocktail party is the sometimes dreaded, but highly anticipated rose ceremony.

ROSE CEREMONIES

Every contestant’s biggest worry at the end-of-episode rose ceremony is not receiving a rose and being rejected by the girl they love and care for. This season’s later rose ceremonies were filled with tears, anxiety, drama, and twists and turns. The Bachelorette shocked everyone when she chose to give one final rose to not one but two men. Bachelorette fans were devastated when Jojo sent James Taylor, a man who always stood up for her and was one of her closest friends, home. Just moments after he professed his love for Jojo, Luke left the rose ceremony without a rose, at a loss for words, and seemingly emotionless.

Bachelorette contestants often feared being rejected by Jojo this season, but Christians never have to worry about the Lord leaving or forsaking them. Before we confessed our sins and trusted in Jesus as our savior, we were far from God. He is perfect and our sin separated us from him. Because we believed in Jesus, who died on the cross for our sins, and accepted his free gift of salvation, we can have intimacy with the Lord. No matter what we do, we can never be separated from him ever again. Absolutely nothing, “neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:38-39).