BUILDING A LOVE THAT LASTS
Examining the ingredients necessary to loving God as he deserves
One of the greatest love stories in the Bible is found in one of the strangest of the books of the Bible …… THE SONG OF SONGS / SOLOMON. It is the story of how King Solomon fell in love with one of his poor and unworthy subjects.
Their poems of love, that form the book Song of Songs, express the deep intimacy of their love for each other.
At times confusion has existed as to why this book was included in the Bible.
Is it just a lovely love story to brighten a frustrating day ?
Is it a literary example of the beauty of eastern poetry ?
Does it contain an important message from God to us ?
I believe it does ! …. I believe it creates a picture for us, a type, of Gods love for his church ….. and the kind of love he wishes us to share with him.
The story itself illustrates the truth of Christ’s first appearing as a humble Shepherd to woo his bride, the church. And how he has promised to return as the King of kings to take his bride to his eternal ‘palace’.
The Bible presents to us this picture of the church as the Bride of Christ.
The truth is that we, the church, individually as children of God have been called to a LOVE relationship with God. This is not religious sentimentality this is the purpose we were made for.
Yet the truth is that we are guilty so very often of forgetting this and neglecting this love relationship with him. It would be wonderful if our relationship with God were always as fresh and intimate as we see Solomon’s with his beloved. Sadly we get caught up in trivial matters of religiosity and personal interest whilst neglecting to walk in love with Jesus.
As I have been meditating on the Song of Solomon I have begun to see afresh the kind of love relationship God wants with his church.
Throughout the book Solomon a picture (type) of Christ himself is continually telling his lover how beautiful she is, he points out the wonderful things about her he loves, rarely does he ask anything of her …. But he does on one occasion …..
“Show me your face, let me hear your voice; for your voice is sweet, and your face is lovely” (SoS 2:14)
God wants a face to face relationship with you !
HOW CAN WE KNOW GOD IN THIS WAY ?
(or What will make this relationship work ?)
In any human relationship certain vital ingredients are necessary if people are to share intimacy. When they are missing our relationship begins to die.
ATTRACTION
What first ‘drew’ you towards your partner ?
What qualities or attributes attracted you ?
What first attracted you to Christ ?
Isaiah said prophetically …… “He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him” (Isaiah 53:2)
This world never presented Christ to us as attractive … so what made him so ?
His unconditional LOVE
His promise of FORGIVENESS
His desire to HEAL us ……. etc.
Do you remember a time when you could not stop thinking of the wonder of God. His power and gentleness, his justice and mercy, his patience and tenderness ?
What has changed, has he ….. or me ?
Our first attraction to him was simple ….. much as it was humanly, there was none of the complexities of family life or financial responsibility just pure attraction.
God finds you amazingly attractive …. The Shulamite is so concerned about her appearance she wonders how Solomon could be attracted to her (SoS 1:6)
Solomon’s response is to tell her she is beautiful.
Has Christ ceased being attractive to us ? Is the world much more attractive to you ?
The Apostle Paul mourns over one over his friend Demas who this was true of …..
“Demas, because he loved this world, has deserted me” (2 Tim 4:10)
Too easily when the partner we are with becomes unattractive we are in danger of looking elsewhere …. Israel was continually guilty of this in their relationship with God.
The story of Hosea tells of God’s command for Hosea to marry a prostitute, who is continually unfaithful to him, having children by other men. Yet God still loves Israel just as Hosea keeps taking Gomer back ….
(Hosea 11:7,8 NIV) “My people are determined to turn from me……How can I give you up, Ephraim? How can I hand you over, Israel? How can I treat you like Admah? How can I make you like Zeboiim? My heart is changed within me; all my compassion is aroused.”
SONG OF SOLOMON 5:10-16
AFFECTION
Every relationship that lasts is built on love because that is how it started.
The Apostle John writes to seven churches in The Revelation. One of those is Ephesus. She is commended for her service, her grasp of truth and her endurance.
But god says to that church ……
“Yet I hold this against you, you have forsaken your first love” (Revelation 2:4)
This correction was not just for first century Ephesus , it shouts down through the centuries wherever the people of God have got caught up with themselves or this world. God does not want your talent, abilities or money …. He longs for your love ! As James challenges his readers about their ‘friendship’ with the world which incidentally he calls adultery, he declares ….
“God yearns jealously for the loving devotion of the spirit he implanted within us” (James 4:5 Barclay)
Jesus didn’t ask Peter do you trust me or do you admire me or even do you fear me, his question was simple and poignant ….. “Do you love me more than these” (John 21:15)
A good husband will work the hours necessary to feed and clothe his family, he will keep his home well decorated and the car mechanically sound but hard work is no replacement for love. The truth is that most marriages fall apart not because of awful, blazing rows but because people begin to take each other for granted. Expressions of love and affection become absent and are replaced by indifference and selfishness.
For a child of God backsliding happens similarly, slowly at first then before you know it God is distant and unreachable, why ? because you took it for granted and began flirting with other priorities. Slowly the things of the Spirit - prayer , the scriptures , meeting with the body of Christ become less important and the claims of home and business take over. Ambitions, possessions , popularity etc. take over and the Spiritual life declines.
(2 Corinthians 11:2,3) “I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy. I promised you to one husband, to Christ, so that I might present you as a pure virgin to him. But I am afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent’s cunning, your minds may somehow be led astray from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ”
Has Christ ceased to be central to your affections ?
The advice to the Ephesians in revelation is pertinent for us too …..
(Rev 2:5 NIV) Remember the height from which you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place.
The lack of one more ingredient can endanger the beauty and intimacy of walking with Jesus.
ATTENTION
What is clear of the Song of Solomon is that love can only grow when two people give each other their attention. If two people cease to communicate they can never know each other.
Solomon and his beloved longed to be on their own, away from those that continually surround them.
“I belong to my lover and his desire is for me. Come my lover, let us go to the countryside, let us spend the night in the villages” (SoS 7:11)
We spend our time wondering why we struggle to experience the reality of God’s power in our lives, yet we rarely, if ever, give him our attention.
Jeremiah reminds Israel of the times they have neglected God ……
“Does a maiden forget her jewelry, a bride her wedding ornaments? Yet my people have forgotten me, days without number” (Jeremiah 2:32)
Imagine a couple preparing to get married who never see each other, never spend time together or give each other their devoted attention. Yet that is what happens with too many of us. We are Betrothed to Jesus, the Holy Spirit is our ‘deposit’ (engagement ring) and some of us never talk to him or even consider him in our lives from day to day. What chance does a meaningful and fruitful relationship have ?
Has Christ ceased to be the centre of my attention ?
Conclusion:
If this is the diagnoses of your relationship with God you may automatically asked how can things be different ? I too asked this question quite recently ….
Then in that story of love between Solomon and his lover I was reminded how.
So often we don’t know what steps to take to revive this love relationship with Jesus, or feel powerless to take those steps. Yet Solomon’s lover simply pleads with him ….
“Draw me away ! We will run after you” (SoS 1:4)
I realized that I first came to know him when he drew me to himself, it was a spiritual experience that brought me to Christ not practical or material steps. It starts with the desire just like anything else in life. If you want it, you will make time for God in your life .
God is committed to perfecting his Son’s bride as his eternal reward for his sacrificial love in saving mankind. God WILL give to his Son a beautiful and radiant bride. That bride is you and I.
The friends asked the Shulamite a question ……. “Where has your lover gone, most beautiful of women? Which way did your lover turn, that we may look for him with you?” (SoS 6:1)
