My Beloved is MINE...
Song of Solomon 2:16 - "My Beloved is mine, and I am His." Isn't this the way of early relationships? Our beloved belongs to us, owned by us and we jealously guard over them to make sure we do not lose them. We call on the phone and spend hours just listening to our beloved breathe so we can be connected. We rush to meet them and linger in their presence.In light of the Christian experience, it sometimes feels like we get a pair of Christian handcuffs to latch on to our Savior (even though WE sometimes hold on to the key). At this stage we're actually more like new-born infants clinging to the comfort and care of our mother. Because we experience Jesus' unconditional love, the "eat-when-we-hunger" phase of growth, and the near constant protection and attention we can easily be convinced that Jesus does indeed "belong" to us.
As we follow our Good Shepherd, Jesus patiently teaches us, leading us to green pastures & quiet waters where we eat and drink, of His Presence, His Word, His Spirit. We need the Milk of the "first principles" (Hebrews 5:12-14) and He makes it available to us; as much as we need as often as we press in. Over time, we graduate from the Milk, to the solid food, the strong meat of the Word, guided and interpreted by His Spirit. We learn more about how our Beloved feels about us and the depth of His love for us and step by step we grow. We learn the Truth that God has spoken about us; that we are joint heirs with Christ, we are Royalty, we are Priests, we are Warriors. And as we grow closer and learn more, we grow stronger, more independent and capable of standing with Him but on our own two feet.
Okay, so ... I am my Beloved's ... but He is still mine
We mature enough to no longer require that He belong to us, and we now recognize that we belong to Him as in Song of Solomon 6:3 we come to the realization that "I am my Beloved's and He is mine." Learning more about His character, realizing the depth of the sacrifice required and made to secure my place with Him, we come to understand that He has chosen us and we have done nothing to earn that gift, but to accept it freely. But even though we now know that we belong to Him, we can still cling to the hope that He also belongs to us. That we can hold some piece of him as surety of His love, His dedication.As we move into this new level of relationship and face new challenges, earn new victories, we see that our Beloved is no longer with us continually in an obvious way. Like a child learning to peddle his two-wheeled bike, we begin learning to avoid obstacles, overcome the rough patches in the road and stay upright on our own; we mature. We can become so focused on our situation, we don't notice the support we receive from the one running behind us, hand on the bike, lending support and guidance. So we struggle with things seemingly on our own, and call to Him... and we learn. We learn from our triumphs and our failures; from answered prayers and confusing silences. And looking back we see how His grace and mercy surrounded us every time and we learn that sometimes bread can look like stones, and eggs serpents. But through it all we learn a new kind of closeness and dedication; a new kind of relationship. Deeper and more mature, more secure. And in our struggles with trials & tribulations, we grow stronger still.
I am my Beloved's ... and His desire is towards me
Then hopefully one day, we realize that it is not about "me" at all, it's all about Him. Now we can finally say that "I am my Beloved's, and His desire is towards me." (Song of Solomon 7:10) We can rest in the confidence that he will not forsake us, because He never has. He will continue to love us, because He always has. We come to a place where we know that if we try to hold Him, we lose him; we're just not big enough. But only when He holds us we are truly secure.This is the place where Joy can come freely and abundantly; where we are secure in our relationship. This is the place where "He prepares a table in the presence of our enemies" so that He may fight, while we feast. This is the place where strife ends and fruit happens. You don't see an apple tree straining to produce fruit. The apple tree just busies itself being an apple tree and the fruit happens. This is the place we should all strive to live.
This is the place where I want to be. Sitting at His feet. Confident in who He says I am. Glorying in His Grace, marveling at his Mercy, profiting in His Presence. I'd like to say I've arrived. That I live here all the time, that nothing shakes me or frightens me, or angers me and that I spend all my time giddy with joy. But I'm afraid I'm just a visitor to this place. I get here every once in so often. Those are times I remember as being confident in His provision. Just knowing it will be alright, because greater is HE that is within me, than he that is in the world. But, no... I visit. Even so, I'm grateful that I get here from time to time. The good news is that I seem to visit more often and to stay longer each time. That's gotta be worth something, doesn't it?
What about you? Where are you in this march towards maturity?
