My [earthly] Beloved

Wk 49 Day 5


[Artwork by Vince Gorman]


Song of Songs 2:2, 3-13

Lover

² Like a lily among thorns
is my darling among the maidens.

Beloved

³ Like an apple tree among the trees of the forest
is my lover among the young men.
I delight to sit in his shade,
and his fruit is sweet to my taste.

⁴ He has taken me to the banquet hall,
and his banner over me is love.

⁷ Daughters of Jerusalem, I charge you

by the gazelles and by the does of the field:
Do not arouse or awaken love
until it so desires.

⁸ Listen! My lover!
Look! Here he comes,
leaping across the mountains,
bounding over the hills.

⁹ My lover is like a gazelle or a young stag.
Look! There he stands behind our wall,
gazing through the windows,
peering through the lattice.

¹⁰ My lover spoke and said to me,
"Arise, my darling,
my beautiful one, and come with me.

¹³ The fig tree forms its early fruit;
the blossoming vines spread their fragrance.
Arise, come, my darling;
my beautiful one, come with me."

// SIGH:

[Earthly beloved]
.. Would my BELOVED [young man] tell me I am the rose of Sharon; a lily of the valley?
.. Would I be proud of my BELOVED when he comes?
.. Would my BELOVED be as gentle and loving as one who says "Arise, come, my darling; my beautiful one, come with me."

"Do not arouse or awaken love
until it so desires."



// BELLE:

.. Yes, this has been my prayer. To not awaken love until the time is right - until it is ready. Right now, I believe, I am not. There may be a lot of things that I know I am ready at, but not all, not in totality yet. I want my BELOVED to be proud of me, to talk to his friends about me in such a way that I am his fairest. I want to be able to give him everything that I am [as Christ models that for His bride, the church. And the church ought to give everything back to Him, our BELOVED GROOM.]
.. In the same way, I pray that when love is ready, I will be as proud of him as he is of me. That I will be able to talk to others about my BELOVED in pride of who he is as he follows the model of Christ who gave His life for His bride; to be able to lay his life as Christ did.
.. Right now, I am sharpening and getting ready; polishing my attitudes and my mindset; to be fully grounded in Christ through His Word.
.. I need to set aside feelings that are out-of-place and out-of-timing. I will know when the time is right, as long as I remain in the guidance of the Vine.

⁵ Whoever obeys his command will come to no harm,
and the wise heart will know the proper time and procedure.

⁶ For there is a proper time and procedure for every matter

Ecclesiastes 8:5-6a

// Lord, thank you for this reminder and affirmation. I pray that you strengthen my heart; keep it away from temptations; dig it deeper behind your shadow; hiding Your truth in it. Thank you for your example of what true love really is - to be able to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters. Thank you for loving your church, us, your lover. You are MY TRUE BELOVED. I want to you to be proud of me. Because of that, I want you to be happy in all that I do. In the same way, when my earthly beloved comes, I want him to be as proud as you are of me. When the time is right, You will let me know. Keep me wise; walking in wisdom and understanding as I continue to walk in Your truth. In Jesus' name, amen.