Hopeful Romantic - Day 273 Month 9-29 Week 37-7

Today's Reading (Bible in 1 year)

1 Chronicles 6, Song of Solomon 1:1-7, Daniel 9:1-19, 1 Thessalonians 1

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1%20Chronicles%206%2C%20Song%20of%20Solomon%201%3A1-7%2C%20Daniel%209%3A1-19%2C%201%20Thessalonians%201&version=NASB1995


Hopeful Romantic


A few months ago, my brother and I were talking on the phone.  We were discussing some of the scripture that I have been writing about in this blog.  He was kind of poking fun at what I might say when we get to reading the Song of Solomon.  So here we are.  Dan (my brother) I’ll happily give you a few tips on romance here!


“The Song of Solomon is a lyric love poem in the Hebrew Bible that celebrates romantic and marital love between a man and a woman” (google AI overview).  


Romance is something that I figured I’d be pretty good at when I was in my teens.  Unfortunately, I’m not a great romantic.  It’s probably one of the things that is most disappointing to my wife but is also disappointing to myself.  In fact, I wish I were more romantic than I am.  I do try, and sometimes I succeed, but more often than I care to admit, I fail.


I’ve often wondered why the Song of Solomon is in the Bible.  It does not seem to directly relate to anything else in scripture.  What it does do is openly recognize that romance and sexual love are good things and that God created them in humans for good.  It does also have a connection to Jesus!  You see, the New Testament gives us another picture of a bride and groom.  Obviously it recognizes the human relation of bride and groom but there is also a spiritual bride and groom.


The Bride of Christ in the New Testament is the church.  All of us who are Jesus followers are part of the Bride of Christ.  Jesus is the groom.


Jesus said, “In my fathers house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you.  If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also” (John 14:2,3 NASB1995).  Jesus is preparing a place for those who follow Him, and it’s in His Father’s house.  It’s just like a groom who wants to get his house ready in preparation to be home to his new wife and family.


If I look at our reading today in Song of Solomon 1 and relate it to Jesus and His bride, the church, we can imagine it like a craving to be with the one you love.  It contains all of the emotion and intense feelings of the love of a bride and groom.  We, the church, are craving to be with Jesus because He is the centre of every day of our lives. We also become self conscious of ourselves.  The Shulammite bride is self conscious of her dark complexion due to the sun's effect on her skin from labouring in the vineyards.  Though our self consciousness is not about our appearance, we can be self conscious too.  As the Bride of Christ, we are self conscious of the effect of our sin and our readiness to meet our groom. Yet through this, we confess these sins and still want to pursue Jesus at all times of the day.


That is the place that I want to be at all times.  It’s why I write this blog and it’s why I talk so much about loving God and loving my neighbour.  Loving my neighbour has been the biggest hurdle I have in my life and I’m constantly pushing against my human tendency to just live in my own little world.  But then my focus on Jesus tends to grow cold.  But then I push through and find myself encouraged to love my neighbour and love Jesus and then I’m continually pursuing him in prayer.  I want to be in one of those “dwelling places” that Jesus is talking about but I want to be ready.  I want to fulfill my obligations to my calling while I am in this life I’ve been given.


I don't want my focus on Jesus to grow cold.  I want to keep pursuing Him.  I want to love God, love my neighbour and be faithful to the calling He has given me.  I don't know when my time here will be finished, but I do know where I want to be when it is.  I want to be with the One I love.


Have a great day!

Steve

steve.d.pauls@gmail.com


You can subscribe to this blog and receive an email each day or week.  Just visit the following link. https://follow.it/my-faith-view-from-here-daily-readings-and-thoughts?leanpub


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Day 15 - Week 3 Day1 Let Your Heart Rest

Today's reading Genesis 24:61 - End of 25 Psalms 14 Isaiah 12 - 13:5 Matthew 11 Thought for today (sorry but this is heavy) Today my heart is heavy.  I couldn't sleep well.  I figured that I may as well get up and do my morning reading and blog post.  So much is going on this world!  So much death.  So much war.  I long for what we read about yesterday of the eventual peace that will be in God's Kingdom.  In Psalm 14 from today's reading, we read "The fool has said in his heart, "There is no God."  They are corrupt, they have committed abominable deeds; There is no one who does good...They have all turned aside, together they have become corrupt; There is no one who does good, not even one. "  This is a Psalm of David, Israel's great king who God describes as a man after His own heart.  I think it's because David always wore his heart on his sleeve.  He was real and you see it in the Psalms he wrote.   My heart is heavy because...
Read more

Day 20 - Week 3 Day 6 The Rock

Today's reading (Bible in 1 Year) - If you have not read my introduction or blog from the beginning, I felt a strong motivation to read the whole Bible in a year and discover something new each day to share. Genesis 30:25 - end of 30 Psalm 18 Isaiah 17 Matthew 13:44 - end of 13 Thought for the day We have rocks!  We live on a rocky shore and our whole property is full of rocks.  You can't dig down more than 6" anywhere on our property and not find a rock.  It's very frustrating when you're trying to dig a garden or plant a tree.  Interesting though, they shift.  Every spring, my mower finds new rock locations.  During the winter freeze and thaw and freeze and thaw and freeze and thaw (that's how it is here), the rocks in the ground shift again and again.   There is one rock on our property that does not shift!  At the shore we have a lava rock outcropping.  It's goes out about 20 ft and and at high tide, you can touch the water from it. ...
Read more

Day 25 Week 4 Day 4 Green Pastures

Today's reading (Bible in 1 year) Genesis 36 Psalm 23 Isaiah 22:1-14 Matthew 17 Last evening, my wife, Sylvia, read a statement to me from a bishop in the Episcopalian church in New Hampshire.  He advised his Episcopal clergy to get their affairs and wills in order "because it may be that now is no longer the time for statements, but for us with our bodies to stand between the powers of this world and the most vulnerable".  Sometimes, peacemaking puts one in the place where death is a possibility in the protection of the most vulnerable.  It's an ominous thing to think about. Today we read Psalm 23.  What a powerful Psalm to read in it's fullness but hopefully you just read it and I'll simply mention verse 4 where it says " Even though I walk through the valley of death, I fear no evil, for You are with me " Did you hear that?   You are with me! On November 16, 2025 my mom passed away and went to be with Jesus, 2 days before her 98th birthday.  My mo...
Read more