Him Whom My Soul Loves

When was the last time you spent time with the Lord while feeling tired, sick, or overcome with emotion? Did those feelings cause you to be distant from the Lord, impressing upon you a weight much stronger than those previous emotions?

This past week has been a time of great failure in this area, but an incredible reminder of the Lord's faithfulness.

I struggle with emotions. The answer to the above question is "yes" for me. Tiredness is probably my main problem. I go before the Lord, dreary-eyed and exhausted, wanting to want Him, wanting to desire Him. Instead, so many times I just want to go back to bed. In the past, I've given in, figuring that it isn't worth it to pray when I am so tired and distracted. But is it?

During this struggle, I stumbled upon these verses from Song of Solomon.

"On my bed night after night I sought him whom my soul loves; I sought him but did not find him. I must arise now and go about the city; in the streets and in the squares I must seek him whom my soul loves. I sought him but did not find him. The watchmen who make the rounds in the city found me, and I said, 'Have you seen him whom my soul loves?' Scarcely had I left them when I found him whom my soul loves; I held on to him and would not let him go..."
~Song of Solomon 3:1-4a

In this passage, we find the bride desperate. But why is she desperate? What is she searching for that is so important?

Her beloved. He is gone and she must find him. She cannot live another day without him, another minute without the assurance of his sweet presence holding her, protecting her from harm.

But in verse 1, where do we find the bride? In bed....searching for her beloved. Yes, she wants to find him, but not with a desire that gets her out of bed. The bride is comfortable, not wanting to be disturbed, not wanting to put forth the needed effort. It says that she sought him "night after night...but did not find him." In order to find her beloved, the bride had to understand her need for him, her plight without him.

How many times are we like the bride? Desiring to know the Lord, but not enough to do anything about it. We're lazy and comfortable, not wanting to be disturbed. Or, maybe we're a little better and we do put forth effort. We start to search and we start to pray, but nothing changes. Why? Because we simply gave up at the first wave of exhaustion or pang of hunger.

But then, her heart is awakened. Look at verse 2. "I must arise now and go about the city; in the streets and in the squares, I must seek him whom my soul loves." Her eyes are suddenly opened to her need and she becomes desperate, pledging not to give up until she finds her beloved.

"I sought him but did not find him." There it is: her second obstacle. She was passionate. She was willing, but he was nowhere to be found. This is where doubts begin and the voice of the enemy is heard whispering his lies into our mind.

You've tried, haven't you?! You gave all you had. It's okay that you didn't find Him; you can always come back tomorrow. Just go home and relax. You've worked hard today; you deserve some down-time. And anyways, your body needs the rest. He shouldn't ask so much of you! Doesn't He know how hard you searched for Him? Oh, you poor thing..."

Unfortunately, it is too easy to listen to those lies, pitying ourselves and giving up, promising ourselves that we'll be back tomorrow. But we mustn't allow this. We must be willing to fight through temptations, through emotions, and through the lies of the enemy. Not willing to accept defeat, not choosing to give up when our body shouts "no", but understanding our desperate need for our Beloved.

This is the attitude of the bride. She continues on, her heart and soul burning with this one desire.

Her third obstacle: the watchmen. Known as the guards and protectors of the city, the watchmen would have been on patrol, looking for danger in the area when they found the bride. She asks for help, but is not given a reply. But what does she do? She continues on....

....and it is in this next verse that her efforts, her struggles, her fervor is rewarded. "Scarcely had I left them when I found him whom my soul loves; I held on to him and would not let him go..."

The Lord calls for us to seek after Him, to passionately pursue Him , not allowing anything or anyone to detour us; for He promises to reward us with Himself.

"Seek the Lord and His strength; see His face continually." Psalm 105:4

"I sought the Lord, and He answered me, and delivered me from all my fears." Psalm 34:4

"Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened." Matthew 7:7-8

It is in these times, of searching and seeking our Lord, that we are stretched and our faith is refined.

These verses are challenging, aren't they? They call us to a higher calling, a deeper commitment, and a passionate love that is willing to fight, whatever may come. But oh, His presence is sweeter and His love is dearer than any other love in all creation. He is burdening my heart with that more and more lately.

Oh, His grace continues to amaze me; it doesn't matter how many times I fall, He is always there to pick me up and wash me again. What love is this, dear friends? What overwhelming love is ours in Christ?!

A Sweet Aroma

"Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children; and walk in love, just as Christ also loved you and gave Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma."
~Ephesians 5:1-2

I love this passage of Scripture.

The great calling. The challenge. The imagery. It's all so beautiful.

Many of you who have read these verses probably think I am going to be writing on the first part of verse 1: "be imitators of God." Yes, I love that part of the verse (so much so that I wrote a blogpost about it here), but that's not what struck me several days ago.

The part that struck me was the end of verse 2: "an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma." In this verse, it is describing Christ and His sacrifice, giving the word picture of a fragrant aroma or pleasing smell wafting up to the Father's throne.

I knew I had read something like that somewhere else in the Bible, but where?

After looking in the concordance, I found it: 2 Corinthians 2:14-15

"But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and manifests through us the sweet aroma of the knowledge of Him in every place. For we are a fragrance of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing;"

In the verse from Ephesians, Paul was describing Christ as a fragrant aroma, but in 2 Corinthians, he uses the same analogy for us.

Like I stated earlier, I think that that description is beautiful. But what truly is that fragrance? If we are supposed to be the sweet aroma of Christ, where does it come from? Look at verse 14 again: "...and manifests through us the sweet aroma of the knowledge of Him in every place..."

The knowledge of Him in every place. That's it. That is the fragrance we are supposed to be. Wherever we go and whatever we're doing, we should be as a lit candle emanating the refreshing scent of our Lord. What an incredibly challenging thought. And there's more....

Continue reading in verse 15: "For we are a fragrance of Christ to God..."

To God? Why would we be a fragrance to God? I searched the Word again and found what I was looking for.

Think back, far back into His story (yes, history) and recall what the Israelites did that caused a fragrance to reach the throne room of heaven.

Sacrifices. The importance of sacrifices are seen all throughout the Old Testament.

Look at Genesis 8:21 for example, "The LORD smelled the soothing aroma; and the LORD said to Himself, “I will never again curse the ground on account of man, for the intent of man’s heart is evil from his youth; and I will never again destroy every living thing, as I have done." This verse is referring to the promise God made to Noah after he came off the ark and offered a sacrifice to God.

Here's another verse from 2 Chronicles 2:4, "Behold, I am about to build a house for the name of the Lord my God, dedicating it to Him, to burn fragrant incense before Him and to set out the showbread continually, and to offer burnt offerings morning and evening..."

Sacrifices were an important thing to the Lord. When Christ came, He died as the Ultimate Sacrificial Lamb, so that there would no longer be any need for sacrifices. Even though we are not held in bondage to making daily sacrifices in a physical sense, what does Paul exhort us to be in Romans 12:1?
"Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship."

There's the word again: sacrifice. And here is where we tie everything together. We are called to present ourselves unto God as a sacrifice, so that the fragrance of Christ may be evident to those around us, as well as to the Lord Himself.

Oh, that we might understand the importance of surrender, that we would lay everything upon the altar of Calvary. The "Church" of America seems to have all but forgotten this important truth. We are such a distracted people; it is absolutely pitiful. We find the little trinkets of this world so alluring and captivating, yet compared to the glory and beauty of our great King, it is rubble.

This brings me to yet another passage of Scripture. Read it all and read it slowly, allowing it to sink into your soul.

"'A son honors his father, and a servant his master. Then if I am a father, where is My honor? And if I am a master, where is My respect?' says the Lord of Hosts to you, O priests who despise My name.
But you say, 'How have we despised Your name?' You are presenting defiled food upon My altar. But you say, 'How have we defiled You?' In that you say, 'The table of the Lord is to be despised.' But when you present the blind for sacrifice, is it not evil? And when you present the lame and sick, is it not evil?
Why not offer it to your governor? Would he be pleased with you? Or would he receive you kindly? says the Lord of hosts.
But now will you not entreat God's favor, that He may be gracious to us? With such an offering on your part, will He receive any of you kindly? says the Lord of hosts.
Oh that there were one among you who would shut the gates, that you might not uselessly kindle fire on My altar! I am not pleased with you, says the Lord of hosts, nor will I accept an offering from you.
For from the rising of the sun even to its setting, My name will be great among the nations, and in every place incense is going to be offered to My name, and a grain offering that is pure; for My name will be great among the nations, says the Lord of hosts.
But you are profaning it, in that you say...'My, how tiresome it is!' And you disdainfully sniff at it, says the Lord of hosts, and you bring what was taken by robbery and what is lame or sick; so you bring the offering! Should I receive that from your hand? says the Lord.
But cursed be the swindler who has a male in his flock and vows it, but sacrifices a blemished animal to the Lord, for I am a great King, says the Lord of hosts, and My name is feared among the nations."
~Malachi 1:6-14

Have you been honoring the Lord as He deserves?
Do you find the Lord's work tiresome?
Have you been promising complete devotion, yet giving utter complacency?
Would you give the same devotedness to the president that you give to your King?

Oh, that we might see Him as He is and give Him the sacrifice He deserves! Let us give Him our everything!

"Take my life and let it be
Consecrated, Lord, to Thee.
Take my moments and my days,
Let them flow in ceaseless praise.
Take my hands and let them move
At the impulse of Thy love.
Take my feet and let them be
Swift and beautiful for Thee.

Take my voice and let me sing
Always, only for my King.
Take my lips and let them be
Filled with messages from Thee.
Take my silver and my gold
Not a mite would I withhold.
Take my intellect and use
Every power as You choose.

Take my will and make it Thine,
It shall be no longer mine.
Take my heart, it is Thine own,
It shall be Thy royal throne.
Take my love, my Lord, I pour
At Thy feet its treasure store.
Take myself and I will be
Ever, only, all for Thee."

~Take My Life, Frances R. Havergal

Following our Shepherd

Don't you love when the Lord reveals new truths to you from His Word, especially when it comes from somewhere you've read numerous times before?

This morning I was reading in John 10, where Jesus is proclaiming Himself as the Shepherd of His flock. I love the imagery of this metaphor; us as His precious, yet dumb sheep, Him as our compassionate and all-knowing Shepherd. Isn't that such an accurate picture?! :)

"To him [referring to the Shepherd] the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he puts forth all his own, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice. A stranger they simply will not follow, but will flee from him, because they do not know the voice of strangers." (verses 3-5)

First, He calls us all by name. What a precious Savior we have, that He knows each of us-our joys, our struggles, our dreams, our desires-individually.

Jesus continues by saying that His sheep follow Him, because they know His voice.

Yet, how well do I know my Savior's voice? How well do I follow it?

And then, He adds still more. "A stranger they simply will not follow, but will flee from him, because they do not know the voice of strangers."

How many times do I listen to the stranger's voice, the enemy's lulling entreaties to follow him instead of my Shepherd? How many times have I ignored the loving warnings of my Maker, only to find myself lost and confused in the end. And then, oh how good He is! My beloved Shepherd finds me in my sin, shows me where I was wrong and then picks me up with His gentle, yet mighty hands, the hands that shaped the universe and set each star in its place. He carries me back to the fold, reminding me of His immeasurable mercy, but at the same time of my need for obedience.

Oh, may we keep our eyes fixed on our Savior! In His great mercy, He has saved us, redeemed us, and adopted us into His family! Why would I ever stray from His loving arms? Why does sin ever look pleasurable?

This song sums up so beautifully what I am trying to say. :)

Full Attention by Jeremy Riddle