Dec 04

The Song of Songs is the story of passionate love. The girl described there is so in love with the one who loves her that she goes into a detailed description of him and ends that description by saying to those to whom she is so passionately describing him:

"He is altogether lovely. This is my lover, this is my friend, O daughters of Jerusalem" (Song of Songs 5:16).

Clearly, this woman is so enamored with this man who loves her that she cannot stop thinking about him and also wants others to know him as well. This is someone so excited and enraptured by another person that the joy overflows out of her own being and must be shared with others. So she goes on and on about him to the other women of her acquaintance, the daughters of Jerusalem.

That should be our own response as well, as we continue to grow in our knowledge of God's love for us and experience the increasing depths of that wondrous love. We cannot keep the joy to ourselves but are almost ready to explode with desire to tell others about him. We simply burst with happiness and joy at knowing the Lord and we want others to know him too.

But the joy goes beyond even all the wonderful attributes that the girl ascribes to her lover, or that we can experience in the Lover of our souls. Beyond being the One who loves us with a passion that enabled him even to die for us on a cross, there is yet another gift of his great love that he bestows upon us. For we are not only his beloved, we are his friend. "This is my lover, this is my friend."

Jesus loves us not only as his bridal church; he loves us a friend to whom he reveals the secrets of his heart.

"I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you" (John 15:15).

Scripture for today: Song of Songs 5:16; John 15:15
Thought for today: God loves me as his beloved and as his friend.
Prayer for today: Thank you, Jesus, for your friendship, for revealing the Father's love for me to me.

DEC 04