Day #206
Scripture Reading: Song of Songs 3 - 4 …
As we began to examine Solomon's "Song of
Songs," I noted that while many today have interpreted Solomon's
words to refer to the beauty of love between a husband and wife, the imagery
throughout the eight chapters presents another picture that is even more
profound and that speaks of the beauty of the relationship of love that exists
between God and His people, between Christ and His Church. It is here
that you discover the passion of God's love for YOU and His call to you to love
Him back!
Chapter 3 begins by expressing the longing of the
heart of believers for Christ: "All night long on my bed I looked
for the one my heart loves …" (3:1). The question
immediately arises: "Do I long for Christ? Do I seek after
God with all my heart, soul, mind and strength?" We read verses
in the Psalms … but do we FEEL this way ourselves??
"O God, You are my God, earnestly I seek You;
my soul thirsts for You, my body longs for You, in a dry and weary land where
there is no water. I have seen You in the sanctuary and beheld Your power
and Your glory. Because Your love is better than life, my lips will
glorify You" (Psalm 63:1-3).
The "Beloved" in Solomon's
song pursues, seeks, searches for the one she loves. She goes by the "watchmen" and
then finds Him. Ezekiel talks about the "watchman" who
watches over God's people and warns when the enemy is coming (Ezekiel 33).
Christ appoints the leaders of the Church to be the "watchmen" today
and perhaps Solomon is referring to those who point others to Christ. The
beloved one says, "Scarcely had I passed them when I found the One my
heart loves. I held Him and would not let Him go" (3:4). And then she speaks to the "Daughters
of Jerusalem" and says, "Do not arouse or awaken love
until it so desires" (3:5).
You and I need to understand that God desires our
love! He alone is worthy of our love!! This is "the first
and greatest commandment:" "LOVE the LORD your God with
all your heart, soul, mind and strength!" Picture the passion of
the "beloved," and translate that passion as passion for
God. The angel of God speaks to the church in Ephesus in Revelation 2:4:
"I hold this against you: You have forsaken your first
love!" Arousing love or awakening love before it "finds"
this ONE is a picture of idolatry, of spiritual adultery, of giving your
love to anyone but the KING!
Love for God is produced by the Holy Spirit in the
hearts of those who are His chosen ones, His beloved. On these God sets His love as “the apple of His eye.” The “fruit of the Spirit is LOVE …” (Galatians 5:22). The world cries out as the adulteress in
Proverbs, seducing the unsuspecting. John writes, "Do not love
the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love
of the Father is not in him " (I John 2:15-17).
In I Corinthians 13 this passionate, God-centered,
Christ-focused love is the greatest spiritual gift anyone can receive … the
ability to receive God's love and to return His love with passion and zeal and
hope and trust. God's love has the power to transform us and to pull our
hearts and minds from the things of the world, setting them on things above
where Jesus is seated at the Father's right hand (Colossians 3:1-2). True
love is found only in relationship with the One who created us for Himself.
The "Beloved's" description of
Solomon's splendor in Chapter 3:9-11 is a description of Jesus Christ, the Head
of the Church, the Bridegroom. He is ultimately the One who wears the
crown! Some people get caught up in all the details of the picture
Solomon presents and I don't have time to go into every point, yet Revelation
19:6-9 presents the Lamb and His wedding with His Church, the saints, those who
have been made holy by His blood, who have been washed and made ready!
Surely these words of the beloved express the awe and wonder of the
Church for our Lord and Savior, our Bridegroom, Jesus Christ!
Chapter 4 takes us to the next picture: the
love of Christ for His Church! How seldom do we think of how MUCH Christ
loves us? I will share again Paul's prayer for us as those who know Jesus
as our Savior: "I pray that you, being rooted
and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to
grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know
this love that surpasses knowledge - that you may be filled to the measure of
all the fullness of God" (Ephesians 3:17-19). Christ's love for
US is beyond limit. The detailed description of His beloved one's body in
verses 1-7 remind me of Paul's description of the Body of Christ in I
Corinthians 12:14-26. Christ knows the Body intimately and His love and
passion for His Bride is pictured here in the love of the "Lover" for
his "Beloved."
It may seem strange for you to interpret these
feelings and expressions to refer to Christ's love for us, but this is
precisely why I believe this song of Solomon is included in the Scriptures of
God's Word. Has not Jesus given His life for His Bride? It was His
love for us that drove Jesus to the cross to glorify His Father and to gather
us to Himself. Is there not passion in His love? "You have
stolen my heart, my sister, my bride; you have stolen my heart!" (4:9).
And as deeply and passionately as Christ loves US, He desires and delights
in our love for Him.
The "beloved," the "Bride
of Christ," is described as "a garden fountain, a well of
flowing water" (4:15). We are HIS garden and the
"fruit" we produce is for HIS glory!
These are the "streams of living water" that
the Spirit produces within the hearts of those who know Jesus as their "Lover." Do not settle for anything less than true
love! Ask God to give you wisdom to understand the urgency and passion of
His love for you that sent His own Son into this world and led Him to the
cross. And then, receiving His love for you by faith, respond to His love
with passion and zeal for HIM!!
"Heavenly Father, to You I come with a heart
bursting to express my love for You!! In Jesus, my Savior, I have
experienced Your love and I rejoice in Your amazing grace. I love You!! I praise You and I thank
You for being my God and my Father in Jesus. Continue Your work in me,
teach me how to love and produce in me the zeal and passion of true love, that
You may receive glory and I may be an instrument of grace to lead others to
You. In Jesus' name, Amen"
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