Song of Songs

It is not all about sex.  Well..... maybe a little bit. :-)

There are many interpretations of this book.  Some say it is all about romantic love, some say it is a metaphor for God's love for us.  .

I think it is both.  Although the name of "God" is never mentioned, I think this is a picture of his love.  We are shown the beautiful, pure, love that a married couple have for one another.... but not a quiet, safe love.... rather a wild passion and dedication.

She says to him "Your love is better than wine" and she longs for the day when he will bring her into his chamber. 

He responds by saying "How beautiful you are, my darling, Oh how beautiful!"  

She says that he has taken her to his banquet hall, where "His banner over me is love."

The King loves his maiden, and calls her his beloved.  He flies a banner (of love) for all to see, like a military victory he is proud of.  

This is the sort of love the Bible espouses as pure and beautiful.  And it is the sort of wild, passionate love that causes God to lift up the skirt of his robe and run to meet his bride, rather than sit and wait for her.  It is the sort of love that causes God to destroy nations for the love of his people, and keep forgiving them and calling them back to himself.  Because He thinks we are beautiful, and worth it.

SONG OF SONGS
Love is his banner,
love better than any wine.
“Behold! Thou art fair!”

I think that the book is not about God and us, it is about love.  Pure and simple.
And what better love than the love he has for us.

Do we really love God like a bride loves her Groom?
Do we believe that he is as passionate about us as a King bringing his wife home to live with him?
If we did believe, how would we act differently today towards God?

Genesis

The book of Genesis is not the oldest book in the Bible, but it is the first presented.  Because Genesis is the Book of Beginnings. 

God creates the Earth, which most people agree is a good idea.

Then he chooses a special people, and calls them to have a relationship with Him....

...which seems like less of a good idea when you see how they/we keep messing it up.

But God didn't create the Earth, and Mankind, just so he would have something pretty to look at, or to have something fun to watch, like a giant soap opera.

He created us to be in a relationship with Him.

He created us for love.

He created us, because HE is love.

He made us.  He called us. He showed us the way to live.

 GENESIS

In the beginning

Made for love, called for my own

Follow me, and live

God chose us, are we choosing Him today?

God loves us, how are we going to show our love for Him today?

God wants us to have life in all its fulness.  How are you going to live your life for Him today?

How do we love?

So how do we show love for others if love is so important?

We all know John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”  However I think we sometimes conveniently forget 1 John 3:16.  “This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers.”

Love is by nature self-sacrificing.  Laying down your life is not about dying for someone else, it is about living for them.  Laying down your life means letting go of the throttle hold that we have on our own rights, our own interests, our own wants, and choosing to lay that down, and take up the interests of someone else.

It is not about thinking less of ourselves, but thinking of ourselves less.

If we love, then the other Fruit of the Spirit will come naturally.  If we don’t know how to love, then we need to focus on the other Fruit, and love will come naturally.

• If we are kind, we show love.
• If we are patient, we show love.
• If we are good, we show love.
• If we are gentle, we show our love.
• If we are self-controlled, we can show love.

(You see where I am going with this?)

Love is not a feeling, it is an act of our will.  The only way to show love is to do something loving.

 

Growing Love

How do God and the Holy Spirit help us to grow fruit in our lives?  By putting us in situations where we are tempted to act in the opposite way.

So how does he grow love in our lives?  By putting unlovely people around us.  It is easy to love just those people who love you back, or to love only those people who are lovable. 

Loving a cute puppy is easy, but can you love an ugly stray?
Loving your family is easy, but can you love the person who annoys you most at work?
Loving orphans is easy, but can you love beggars on the street?

It is not always easy, but that is how we know it is of God.  That pain we feel is God stretching us, and teaching us to leave behind all unloving behaviour and attitudes.

Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.
(1 John 4:8)

Who should you be loving today that you find hard to love? 
How should you be showing love today that will hurt or stretch you?

The Greatest of these is love.

And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love. (1 Corinthians 13:13)

Why is love such a big deal?

Because love is what makes us who we are as Christians.  It is the reason the Christian church is called to reach out to a hurting community.  We were saved because God loved us, and we are called to show that love to others in return.

There are many secular organisations that are better equipped to feed the hungry, so why are we called to do it?  Because we are showing His love when we do it.

There are many people who will help others, but we do it because we are called to love them as well.

We are called to love, because we were first loved.

Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for whoever loves others has fulfilled the law. The commandments, “You shall not commit adultery,” “You shall not murder,” “You shall not steal,” “You shall not covet,” and whatever other command there may be, are summed up in this one command: “Love your neighbour as yourself.” Love does no harm to a neighbour. Therefore love is the fulfilment of the law.
(Romans 13:8-10)

Our love is what sets us apart from the world, and what makes us more like God.  Because He is love, if we have love for each other, we show God’s love to those around us, and become it as well.

Love is…

 

Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. (1 John 4:8)

It does not say that God loves, or God is loving. It says that God IS LOVE.  It is his nature, one of his key attributes.

We spoke the other day about the Fruit of the Spirit being our attempt to take on the nature/attributes of God.  Well, this one seems to be the biggie.

 

If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.  Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.  It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
(1 Corinthians 13:1-7)

 

I read somewhere that a useful (and scary) test is to try and replace the word “love” with your own name, and see how you make out.

• Sharkbait is patient.
• Sharkbait is kind.
• Sharkbait does not envy.
• Sharkbait does not boast.
• Sharkbait is proud.
• Sharkbait is not rude.
• Sharkbait is not self-seeking.
• Sharkbait is not easily angered.
• Sharkbait does not keep a record of wrongs.
• Sharkbait does not delight in evil.
• Sharkbait rejoices in the truth.
• Sharkbait always protects.
• Sharkbait always trusts.
• Sharkbait always hopes.
• Sharkbait perseveres.

 

So, how well did you do?

Day Thirty-Eight : Maundy Thursday

Many people do not ‘celebrate’ Maundy Thursday.  It is the night before Good Friday, where we remember :

• The institution of the Last Supper
• Jesus washing his disciples feet
• Jesus praying in the Garden.

 

Last year, I chose to focus on the disciples keeping watch.  This year I want to think about the washing of the feet. (But go read last year’s one anyway, it was quite good. )

 

Jesus has only hours left to show his disciples what they need to do, and leave a message with them.  And he chooses the object lesson of washing their feet.

He shows his love.  Not just saying “I love you”, by showing them :

1. He knew how filthy their feet were, yet he loved them enough to wash them clean.  (Don’t forget, Judas was there as well.)
2. He knew they didn’t understand it, but he loved them enough to do it anyway.
3. He knew they would resist Him.  (“Master, you shall never wash my feet.”) Yet he did it anyway.

If my child goes rolling in mud, I imagine they would be pretty filthy, clueless, and resistant to being cleaned.  Yet I would still love them, because of who they are, and who I am. 

That’s how much Jesus loved them.  That’s how much he loves us.

That’s why he was prepared for what was coming tomorrow…

Day 7 : Diligence

 

“make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love.”
(2 Peter 1:5-7)

Not words we hear everyday, but rather reminiscent of the Fruit of the Spirit.  Peter exhorts us to have a willingness to work hard; to have a spirit of …

DILIGENCE

The lesson here seems to be that salvation by faith is only the first step.  Not that we can do anything to earn our salvation, or even to make ourselves worthy of it, but more is required.

For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But if anyone does not have them, he is nearsighted and blind, and has forgotten that he has been cleansed from his past sins.
(2 Peter 1:8-9)

We need to grasp our salvation with both hands.  But then we need to show gratitude for it by working at goodness, kindness, love etc. 

For if you do these things, you will never fall, and you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. (2 Peter 1:10-11)