Fine Linen

Revelation 19:8 says, "It was granted her to clothe herself with fine linen, bright and pure - for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints."
Two things about this verse intrigue me:

1) Our righteousness, everything we do on this earth for the glory of God, is our preparation for how we will present ourselves before Him on that day. As a bride eagerly prepares herself and clothes herself in beauty on the morning of her wedding, so should we eagerly seek after righteousness. Our righteous acts are not something that we simply do to impress people around us, but rather our preparation for the great Wedding of Christ and His church. People would be shocked if a bride willingly walked down the aisle in a tattered, dirty dress. We should have the same mentality when it comes to our righteousness in Christ. Pursue Him and live by the Spirit, all the while knowing that it is preparation; it is our presentation to Christ. In Malachi 1, God condemns Israels half-hearted offerings, calling them polluted. Let us never offer pollution to God in our acts of righteousness, but rather whole-hearted devotion with a humble attitude that reflects the Spirit that lives in us.

2) Here's the best part: "It was granted to her..." What's that, you say? Our righteousness, all of our preparation that we could possibly need, is given to us by God. How does this reconcile with preparing ourselves through righteous acts, then? Well, we must know that Christ paid for our union with Him. He already bought us and allowed us to be joined with Him. Our acts of righteousness are an expression of thankfulness for the righteousness that has been freely given to us, despite the great price at which it came.  "For in it [the gospel] the righteousness of God is revealed from faith [It was granted to her...] for faith [our response-->righteous acts], as it is written, 'The righteous shall live by faith.'" - Romans 1:17

In the biblical model for a marriage, there is this same circular support. The husband loves the wife, who, in turn, respects the husband. Christ loves us and gives us imputed righteousness, so in return we ought to live righteously by the Spirit, always preparing for that day when we will finally be united with Him.