Over the past few weeks, we have learned that because He loves us so much, God gives us special gifts. He gives us His Spirit; He gives us the fruit of the Spirit; He gives us the gift of teaching, of healing, of prophecy, of tongues, of interpretation of tongues; He’s preparing a crown for us; He makes us appear as a fragrant perfume to others; and He gives us the precious gift of having His Son, Jesus, living on the inside of each of us. But in any successful relationship, there must be TWO willing hearts! Let’s go to the very first line of Song of Solomon to begin learning about OUR part in the relationship.
“Kiss me – full on the mouth! Yes! For your love is better than wine . . .” (Song of Solomon 1:2a from THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language © 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson. All rights reserved.)
Pretty mushy, isn’t it? Pretty intimate? Maybe we should cover the ears of young children before reading this passage aloud? And perhaps this wouldn’t be the best passage to dramatize? What could this possibly have to teach us about our relationship with God?
Notice that the woman who sings the first few verses of this book longs more than anything else to be intimate with the man she is singing to! She desires his kisses, his embrace, even more than wine.
When I first read this, I had the strong impression that there was something hidden within this line, “better than wine.” It only took a few seconds to realize three things:
1) Wine is something to drink; it fills the stomach. One of the first things we need in pursuing a relationship with God is to desire that relationship MORE than food or drink!
2) Wine makes you feel good, makes your body relax. We need to desire that relationship more than physical comforts, instead trusting JESUS to provide for our comforts. After all, He TOLD us: “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” (Matt 11:28-30 NIV); and finally,
3) Wine is also often used as a symbol of Jesus’ Blood. Hum. Is it possible that we should desire a relationship with God more, even, than we desire His cleansing Blood? So often we tend to think of a relationship with God in terms of what He has done for us, in terms of what we can get out of it: A cleansed heart, eternal life; freedom from addictions; healing; and all the other things the Blood brings. But we are to desire a relationship with God even MORE than His Blood, even MORE than eternal life, even MORE than healing and cleansing from sin, and even MORE than changed lives! The Number One goal in our Christian life is just this: To desire a relationship with God!
Pretty powerful stuff, isn’t it? And enough to ponder for today. Please DO ponder that our relationship with God needs to be the MOST important thing in our lives, to be pursued even above His cleansing blood! Join us next Saturday for Lessons on Relationships From Solomon, Lesson 14!
In His love,
Lyn
Lyn Chaffart, moderator, The Nugget, Scriptural Nuggets ( www.scripturalnuggets.org), Answers2Prayer Ministries, www.Answers2Prayer.org .
(To access the entire “Lessons on Relationship From Solomon” mini-series, please click here.)