Saturday, November 2, 2013

Song of Songs

Is it getting steamy in here or what? Song of Songs rejoices in and illuminates romantic, passionate love, gifted to us by God, and intended for enjoyment within monogamous marriage! Song of Songs follows the story of a Bridegroom and his bride, tracing their relationship as they experience the joys of marital love in its beginning stage, and also the joys of persistent, ever-growing love over time. All of these stages are meant for deeper oneness. Oneness can only happen when we fully die to ourselves and become a servant to our partner. The bride says “My lover is mine, and I am his” (S of S 2:16). A little further into her relationship she says “I am my lover’s, and my lover is mine” (S of S 6:3). Finally, with arms lifted in surrender (in my imagination!) she exclaims: “I am my lover’s, and he claims me as his own” (S of S 7:10). We see her progression of maturity into true love, sacrificial love on Gods terms and not her own. I can imagine this to be true in marriage, but even in my relationship with Jesus I’ve encountered (and am still encountering) these three stages of committal love. First, it’s all about me. I’m so caught up in the emotion of being loved that my surrender to the Lord and focus on him is secondary to the way he is serving me and making me feel. In the next stage, we see the bride find a more equal balance of surrender to her lover on the condition that her lover is also surrendered in equal response and notice of her. Finally, in the last scripture, she is wholly laid down in surrender to her lover with a desire to serve him in real love, as modeled by Christ, regardless of what she receives in return. This beautiful picture of true love modeled in the Song of Songs is something we can aim for in marriage relationships and relationship with Jesus!

1 comment:

  1. Excellent! You explained those concepts better than I ever could!

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