Scripture Text: Song of Solomon 2:16-17
My beloved is mine, and I am his;
he grazes among the lilies.
Until the day breathes
and the shadows flee,
turn, my beloved, be like a gazelle
or a young stag on cleft mountains.
Song of Solomon 2:16-17
Looking forward to the all-happy love of the Beloved [Christ] is a difficult phase in our life found in Him. Here, we greatly encounter moments of being burned out, moments of being evidently vulnerable in the rollercoaster of our faith, season of battling the growth of doubts in us, and the season of being almost defeat by impatience. In light of these things, it is hard to possess a growing desire of wanting the Beloved [Christ], or should we say, it is almost impossible to be the person who looks forward for the all-happy love of Christ. How can we have that growing passion for Him? How can we maintain the sweetness that we all want with the Beloved [Christ]?
The answer is never base actions on emotions. If we are to be devoted to the Beloved [Christ], it must never be based upon what we currently feel about Him. We must have the beholding of what it truly means to be in the Beloved [Christ]! Always remembering that He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? We must keep in mind that our God loves us, for while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die—but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Proper beholding of being in a love-relationship with the Lover-Redeemer will always lead into being assured in Him and in His love. It will always make us steady in His comely heart. It will always produce satisfaction and certainty in Christ’s all-happy love.
As the poem/dialogue between the maiden [Church] and the Beloved [Christ] continues, there is another vision of what should our relationship look like. With the maiden continuing in her daydream, a visit from her Beloved [Christ], she immediately enters into a strong conclusion of her daydreaming; “My beloved is mine, and I am his; he grazes among the lilies. Until the day breathes and the shadows flee, turn, my beloved, be like a gazelle or a young stag on cleft mountains.” (vv.16-17). The maiden [Church] is conclusive in such satisfaction and certainty with the bond that she shares with the Beloved [Christ]. She belongs to Him, and He [Christ] belongs to her [Church]. This unchangeable reality is the very truth which creates the burning passion of the maiden for her Beloved. The belongingness that the maiden knew that she has in the Beloved is her source of satisfaction and the ground of her certainty in Him.
Dear saint, you must know for sure that this is exactly your case with the Lord Jesus Christ. You must keep in mind that you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. The belongingness that we have in the Messiah must remind us that we share the same affection for each other—Christ and the Church. Our belongingness in the Messiah must create satisfaction and certainty in His all-happy love for us. Our belongingness in the Messiah can be understood in such way:
You are His because of His Father (Ephesians 1:4-5)
You are His because you are purchased by His own life (blood) (1 Corinthians 6:19-20; Acts 20:28b)
You are His and your life is in Him because of His successful conquest (Galatians 2:20)
You are His and you have His righteousness because of His unimaginable sacrifice for you (2 Corinthians 5:21)
What a priceless treasure to be in this exclusive ownership of the Lover-Redeemer, the Beloved [Christ]. It is a miracle to grasp with such satisfaction and certainty that He is ours, and we are His. Thanks to His all-happy love, this relationship is sealed by His own life. Truly, it is a great thing and our greatest enterprise, to love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.
The real believer’s heart is awakened to perceive the wonders of God in the person of our Lover-Redeemer, Jesus Christ! From there, we learn to enthusiastically acclaim, oh taste and see that the LORD is good!
He who does not want to know more of Him, knows nothing of Him yet…
Hear this then, dear saint! Blessed are the people to whom such blessings fall! Blessed are the people whose God is the LORD!
Desire communion with Him, who has loved us eternally! Thirst and long for Him! Be in awe of Him, the darling of Heaven! He is all yours… He is all-perfect, all-holy, all-glorious and all-happy! Be exceedingly joyous in being His beloved. If you have truly seen Him, then He is your exceeding joy.
Nobody loves you like He does…
Christ is all that we have! Christ is all that we need!
Take heart, dear saint!
Reflect
1. How much satisfaction do you have in knowing that you are exclusively owned by Christ?
2. Do you have a peace that surpasses human understanding because Christ is for you?
3. Do you desire and long to love Him more, as you ought to be?
Remember
Passion for Christ is only sustained by constantly tasting the sweet bliss of what it truly means to be exclusively owned by Him, and to be loved by Him eternally.
Read
Deuteronomy 7:6-11; Isaiah 43:1-7; 1 Peter 2:9-10
Pray
Father, I come before You in the name of Your Son, to honestly ask of one thing: a heart that is so passionate about Him, and in giving Him glory. Father, I know that it is Your will that I possess a pure heart for Him, a heart that is unshared for Him—wholly and absolutely for Him. Satisfy, therefore, my heart by Your love, that I may be steady in His comely heart. Fill me with Your heart that I may truly experience the blessedness of being favored by Him. This I pray, in His glorious Name. Amen.
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