meditations for an everyday relationship with Jesus

A song for the church

Song of Solomon 2:8-12 Listen! My love [is approaching]. Look! Here he comes leaping over the mountains, bounding over the hills My love is like a gazelle or a young stag. Look, he is standing behind our wall, gazing through the windows peering through the lattice.

My love calls to me: Arise, my darling Come away, my beautiful one For now the winter is past; the rain has ended and gone away The blossoms appear in the countryside. The time of singing has come, and the turtledove's cooing is heard in our land.

Solomon obviously had an tender and romantic side. It is hard to square a book like Ecclesiastes with one as overtly erotic as The Song. And yet, these writings have both been attributed to King Solomon.

It has been said that this song praises the beauty of the Queen of Sheba or maybe one of his many wives and concubines; regardless, it is a beautiful lyric poem which gives us glimpses into the characteristics of a God that has many aspects, especially true love and grace.

The inclusion of The Song also shows God’s awareness of the need for balance in the human condition so that it can be healthy and glorify Him.

Words like sex and intimacy describe our God, as do the words faithful and forgiving.

the voice God gave me

Seek what is above

Colossians 3:1-4 So if you have been raised with the Messiah, seek what is above, where the Messiah is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on what is above, not on what is on the earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with the Messiah in God. When the Messiah, who is your life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory.

Keep your head up and do not get preoccupied with your feet. Obviously this goes to balance. We know that making our way to any destination without stumbling is a result of the right mix of looking up and watching where we step.

In his letter to the Colossians theApostle Paul is reminding the congregation to keep their heads and hearts elevated and focused on the highest places.

We are also reminded, in these ending days, to be vigilant and keep our “eyes peeled” for the second coming of our Lord Jesus.

meditations for an everyday relationship with Jesus

Never in vain

1 Corinthians 15:58 Therefore, my dear brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always excelling in the Lord’s work, knowing that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.

God’s work is its own reward.

Submission: what it really means

Colossians 3:18-24 Wives, be submissive to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord. Husbands, love your wives and don't become bitter against them. Children, obey your parents in everything, for this is pleasing in the Lord. Fathers, do not exasperate your children, so they won't become discouraged. Slaves, obey your human masters in everything; don't work only while being watched, in order to please men, but work wholeheartedly, fearing the Lord.

Whatever you do, do it enthusiastically, as something done for the Lord and not for men, knowing that you will receive the reward of an inheritance from the Lord you serve the Lord Christ.

If you maintain healthy relationships with family, friends, co-workers and acquaintances … keeping Jesus first and self last … you will reap the most coveted reward any human being has ever dreamed of: peace with God, self, others and creation.

This is an earthly glimpse into the “kingdom experience” where all submit to Jesus, submit to one another, work alongside one another, trade first and last places, and honor one another out of love.

In this experience sin has no place and the Devil has been cast into the outer darkness. This is God’s kingdom, and His alone!