“Set me as a seal upon your heart, as a seal upon your arm; for love is as strong as death, jealousy as cruel as the grave, its flames is flames of fire, a most vehement (intense) flame. Many waters cannot quench love, nor can the floods drown it. If a man could give for love all the wealth of his house, it would be utterly despised”. Above passage is the love of Shulamite to her beloved.
The same love was felt by Ms. Ellen Lakshmi Goreh, daughter of Rev. Nehemiah Goreh, a Christian convert, a Brahmin of the high class family, was born at Varanasi in the state of Uttar Pradesh, India in 1853. Below poem depicts her love for the saviour.
In the secret of His presence how my soul delights to hide!
Oh, how precious are the lessons which I learn at Jesus’ side!
Earthly cares can never vex me, neither trials lay me low;
for when Satan comes to tempt me, to the secret place I go,
to the secret place I go.
When my soul is faint and thirsty, ’neath the shadow of His wing
there is cool and pleasant shelter, and a fresh and crystal spring;
and my Savior rests beside me, as we hold communion sweet:
If I tried, I could not utter what He says when thus we meet,
What He says when thus we meet.
Only this I know: I tell Him all my doubts, my griefs and fears;
Oh, how patiently He listens! And my drooping soul He cheers:
Do you think He ne’er reproves me? What a false Friend He would be,
If He never, never told me of the sins which He must see,
of the sins which He must see.
Do you think that I could love Him half so well, or as I ought,
If He did not tell me plainly of each sinful deed and thought?
No, He is very faithful, and that makes me trust Him more:
For I know that He does love me, Though He wounds me very sore
Though He wounds me very sore.
Would you like to know the sweetness of the secret of the Lord?
Go and hide beneath His shadow: this shall then be your reward;
and whene’er you leave the silence of that happy meeting place,
you must mind and bear the image of the Master in your face,
Of the Master in your face.
You will surely lose the blessing, And the fullness of your joy,
If you let dark clouds distress you, and your inward peace destroy;
You may always be abiding, If you will, at Jesus side;
In the secret of His Presence May you every moment hide
May you every moment hide.
Above two characters experienced the love of the Lord and we can clearly understand how their hearts desires for Him. As Shulamite says, once she knew her savior and learned about His love, the world or others cannot satisfy her. His visits for her are the precious times of enjoyment. True love is not stationary. It should either grow or decline. She wanted to please Him. Do we give sufficient time to sit in the presence of the Lord? If not we should be redeemed. Nothing can make up for the precious times we spend in His presence.
“Take us the foxes, the little foxes that spoil the vineyards, for our vineyards are in blossom”. Songs of Solomon 2:15. The relationship between the Lord and the bride is like the vines in the vineyard. The vineyard is blooming in spring. However there are numerous little foxes around trying to destroy the fruitfulness. What are the little foxes that can destroy the relationship with Lord? They are the little compromises with the world or the little indulgences of flesh. The foxes are clever, dangerous and always misleading. Sometimes we do underestimate these sneaky sins in our life. A termite can be a small insect, but it has the capacity to destroy the whole house. The ways to get rid of these little foxes are to put them to death. When we read Romans 8:12-13, Paul clearly says to put the deeds of flesh to death. As Galatians 5:24 says, whoever belongs to Christ Jesus has crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.
We may be a Christian living a spiritual life, however remember there are ways we may slip down from that eternal love. Let us read Songs of Solomon 5: 2-8. The Shulamite is in love with her bridegroom. She thinks about him even in her sleep. She heard the knock on the door and the sweet voice of her beloved asking her to open the door. He is desperate to come in and have fellowship with her. When we read in verse 3 we can see the ignorance of Shulamite. Even though she loves him so much, was lazy to put back the robe or walk towards the door. She was reluctant to get out of her comfort zone. That indicates the smooth happy life we have. No diseases, having a good job, happy children, plenty of wealth etc. Even your spiritual life may be flourishing outside; we may be church goers, living a righteous life, attending all prayer meetings, giving tithe etc. But, do we have an ongoing relationship with our God? He is knocking on our hearts door and longs to come in. Are we spending enough time in prayer? Are we spending enough time in Bible meditation? Do we give enough time for our Lord to communicate with us to share his thoughts and plans with us? Remember, He will not force open the door. In verse 4, Shulamite suddenly realizes her ignorance and runs to the door. When she opened the door she could not find him and her heart sank in despair. She looked for him everywhere and could not find him. She called him and did not get an answer. We read in Revelation 3: 20 “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with me.” Jesus invites us into fellowship with Him not only by knocking but also by calling. It is our responsibility to open the door. We must make sure that our first love should be same till the end.
When we read in Ezekiel 33:31-33, we can understand that God had a great love for Israel and he was trying to use his prophet to redeem them from the sins. He appointed Ezekiel as a watchman to guard his people. Ezekiel understood the love of God for His people and he is trying to bring God’s message across their hearts. They came to Ezekiel, sat and listened to the messages of repentance; however they never considered it seriously. They ignored the love of God. In verse 31b we read “Their mouths speak of love, but their hearts are greed for unjust gain.” We did not love God, but He loved us even before we were born. In order to rescue us from the sins of flesh, He sent Jesus Christ as a sacrifice on that cursed cross. That’s the love of self-sacrifice, self-giving and unconditional. Do we love God as He loved us?
In Old Testament we read about Enoch, who walked with God all his life and one day he was taken away. He walked with God more than 300 years. How did that happen? He had a long term relationship with God which grew day by day. In order to have our love relationship with God for long term we must have a desire in us to love God. When you think about the sacrifice he has done for us on the cross, automatically we will fall in love with gratitude. We must nurture and nourish our love everyday with Prayer and Word of God in order to sustain our relationship for long term. Even if things do not go the way we wanted, we should keep the faith and trust in our loving God. Perhaps as I mentioned before, we may be a disciplined Christian leading a moral life, reading Bible, praying, going to church but do we have the connection or intimacy with God? We read this in Luke 11:1 “One day Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.” The disciples desired to have the same connection Jesus had with His father. Do we have that desire in us? God is consuming fire; however he is the loving God who seeks us all the time. He wanted to us to come to a level of relationship where he will stop and listen to us. He wants to spend time with us and share His thoughts with us.
Let us read Genesis 18:16-33 (please read the passage in your Bible). Because of the sins of Sodomites, God was angry and wanted to destroy the nation. In verse 17 we read “Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do”. God spoke to Abraham about his plan to destroy the land, but Abraham remained standing before the Lord. In next verses we can see him having a conversation with God. The relationship between God and Abraham was so deep. That’s the reason; God was so patient to hear Abraham and his justification against the destruction of the city. Every time God says “For the sake of certain number of believers…I will not do it”. The God we serve loves us so much and He will stand there and listen to you when you approach him.
When I read the accounts of a woman in Bible mentioned in Luke 7:36-50, I realised certain truths related to our love to our saviour. This sinful woman gave her best gift, her whole life savings and showed her great love to her Lord. This was also an act of selfless love, humbleness and worship. Even though it’s not written, I believe this lady was a disciple of Jesus. There was no need to spend her expensive perfume to prove her love. But she valued Jesus more than her earthly treasure and that’s the best offering she can give to the Lord who saved her from a wretched life. Once she was broken, desperate and reached the end of her life rope. Now she found the solace in Jesus Christ who saw her crushed spirit. As John Newton, the slave trader sang “Amazing Grace, how sweet as sound, that saved a wretch like me”. The woman did not care about the Pharisees, the guests in the house or the criticising disciples. Even though she was not invited for the event, her love for her master made her to break all the barriers. She stood behind Jesus, her tears was falling on his feet. She wiped the feet with her hair and kissed them. Also then she poured an alabaster jar of expensive perfume oil, her whole life savings, on his feet. Her love to Christ was too well rooted to be weakened by the criticising Pharisees or disciples. She did not notice any of them, because her Lord was there and she was safe. She was set high in honour by the words of her redeemer “Your sins are forgiven. Your faith has saved you, go in peace”.
To conclude I just want to say that TRUE LOVE is…
2. Passionate / Permanent - 8:6b
“For love is strong as death, its jealous is cruel as the grave”. The word jealousy is also called as passion. Shulamite says that her true love lasts till she dies and her passion will be there till she goes to grave. This is the love we should have towards our Saviour. When we have that passion about satisfying our Lord all times, we never think about anything else in this world. In 1 Corinthians 13:4-8, we can read as ““Love is patient, love is kind. It (Love) does not envy, (Love) it does not boast, (Love) it is not proud. (Love) It does not dishonour others, (Love) it is not self-seeking, (Love) it is not easily angered, (Love) it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. Love (It) always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always preserves. Love never fails”. Can we keep “Our Name” in the place where it says “Love”? Let us read the verse again. How does it feel? If your name is John then it should read as “John is not proud, John does not dishonour others…….”.
3. Powerful / wholehearted - 8:6c
“It burns like blazing fire, like a mighty flame”. This means how enthusiastic are we to love our God. That’s the love Paul had for Jesus. The Bible tells us, "Never be lacking in ZEAL, but keep your spiritual FERVOUR, serving the Lord!"--Romans 12:11.
Apostle Paul was a zealous and powerful man. Nothing could quench Paul’s zeal. In his own words he says “Five times I received from the Jews forty lashes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day adrift in the open sea, and I have been constantly on the move. I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my own countrymen, in danger from the Gentiles; in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea; and in danger from false brothers! I have laboured and toiled and have often gone without sleep; I have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food; I have been cold and naked." 2 Corinthians 11:24-27. Nothing can stop anyone who is fired with passion and on fire for God. How do we get this? By praying to God to empower and fill us with the power of His Holy Spirit.
4. Persevering - 8:7a
“Many waters cannot quench love; rivers cannot sweep it away”. Here waters are figuratively said to the problems we might face when our love to God is growing. No matter how threatening circumstances come around, the love cannot be defeated. True love perseveres regardless of the situations. During marriage when both bride and bridegroom joined their hands by saying to each other “ to have and to hold from this day forward, for better for worse, for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health, till death do us part”. This love is not a changeable; it’s the love that perseveres. Jeremiah was a great example of man who suffered for the truth. There were false accusations against him and was persecuted by his own people, the King, the priests and false prophets. He did not do anything wrong, was being honest telling the word of God. Even though he had a freedom to go to Babylon, he chose to say with the remnant in Babylon. At the end even though he was stoned to death, his love to his Lord was so strong. Paul clearly mentions that in Hebrews 11:36-38
5. Precious - 8:7b
In 8:7b we read “If one were to give all the wealth of ones house for love, it would be utterly rejected” Yes true love can never be bought and it’s priceless. The woman who gave her precious expensive oil for Jesus is a great example. When she broke that jar, she was making clear that nothing else is too precious for her in this world. She loved him with an extravagant love. The Shulamite was also willing to endure anything just to be reunited with her beloved. She did behave uncaring before, now her heart longs to be in his arms. What price are we willing to pay to become closer to Lord Jesus? Even though she was humiliated by the watch men, by taking her veil and wounding her, she did not deter from her mission in finding him. Are we like this woman, reach the place where we are lovesick for Jesus?
Two little lines I heard one day,
Traveling along life’s busy way;
Bringing conviction to my heart,
And from my mind would not depart;
Only one life, twill soon be past,
Only what’s done for Christ will last.
A Poem by - C T Studd
In the secret of His presence how my soul delights to hide!
Oh, how precious are the lessons which I learn at Jesus’ side!
Earthly cares can never vex me, neither trials lay me low;
for when Satan comes to tempt me, to the secret place I go,
to the secret place I go.
When my soul is faint and thirsty, ’neath the shadow of His wing
there is cool and pleasant shelter, and a fresh and crystal spring;
and my Savior rests beside me, as we hold communion sweet:
If I tried, I could not utter what He says when thus we meet,
What He says when thus we meet.
Only this I know: I tell Him all my doubts, my griefs and fears;
Oh, how patiently He listens! And my drooping soul He cheers:
Do you think He ne’er reproves me? What a false Friend He would be,
If He never, never told me of the sins which He must see,
of the sins which He must see.
Do you think that I could love Him half so well, or as I ought,
If He did not tell me plainly of each sinful deed and thought?
No, He is very faithful, and that makes me trust Him more:
For I know that He does love me, Though He wounds me very sore
Though He wounds me very sore.
Would you like to know the sweetness of the secret of the Lord?
Go and hide beneath His shadow: this shall then be your reward;
and whene’er you leave the silence of that happy meeting place,
you must mind and bear the image of the Master in your face,
Of the Master in your face.
You will surely lose the blessing, And the fullness of your joy,
If you let dark clouds distress you, and your inward peace destroy;
You may always be abiding, If you will, at Jesus side;
In the secret of His Presence May you every moment hide
May you every moment hide.
Above two characters experienced the love of the Lord and we can clearly understand how their hearts desires for Him. As Shulamite says, once she knew her savior and learned about His love, the world or others cannot satisfy her. His visits for her are the precious times of enjoyment. True love is not stationary. It should either grow or decline. She wanted to please Him. Do we give sufficient time to sit in the presence of the Lord? If not we should be redeemed. Nothing can make up for the precious times we spend in His presence.
“Take us the foxes, the little foxes that spoil the vineyards, for our vineyards are in blossom”. Songs of Solomon 2:15. The relationship between the Lord and the bride is like the vines in the vineyard. The vineyard is blooming in spring. However there are numerous little foxes around trying to destroy the fruitfulness. What are the little foxes that can destroy the relationship with Lord? They are the little compromises with the world or the little indulgences of flesh. The foxes are clever, dangerous and always misleading. Sometimes we do underestimate these sneaky sins in our life. A termite can be a small insect, but it has the capacity to destroy the whole house. The ways to get rid of these little foxes are to put them to death. When we read Romans 8:12-13, Paul clearly says to put the deeds of flesh to death. As Galatians 5:24 says, whoever belongs to Christ Jesus has crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.
We may be a Christian living a spiritual life, however remember there are ways we may slip down from that eternal love. Let us read Songs of Solomon 5: 2-8. The Shulamite is in love with her bridegroom. She thinks about him even in her sleep. She heard the knock on the door and the sweet voice of her beloved asking her to open the door. He is desperate to come in and have fellowship with her. When we read in verse 3 we can see the ignorance of Shulamite. Even though she loves him so much, was lazy to put back the robe or walk towards the door. She was reluctant to get out of her comfort zone. That indicates the smooth happy life we have. No diseases, having a good job, happy children, plenty of wealth etc. Even your spiritual life may be flourishing outside; we may be church goers, living a righteous life, attending all prayer meetings, giving tithe etc. But, do we have an ongoing relationship with our God? He is knocking on our hearts door and longs to come in. Are we spending enough time in prayer? Are we spending enough time in Bible meditation? Do we give enough time for our Lord to communicate with us to share his thoughts and plans with us? Remember, He will not force open the door. In verse 4, Shulamite suddenly realizes her ignorance and runs to the door. When she opened the door she could not find him and her heart sank in despair. She looked for him everywhere and could not find him. She called him and did not get an answer. We read in Revelation 3: 20 “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with me.” Jesus invites us into fellowship with Him not only by knocking but also by calling. It is our responsibility to open the door. We must make sure that our first love should be same till the end.
When we read in Ezekiel 33:31-33, we can understand that God had a great love for Israel and he was trying to use his prophet to redeem them from the sins. He appointed Ezekiel as a watchman to guard his people. Ezekiel understood the love of God for His people and he is trying to bring God’s message across their hearts. They came to Ezekiel, sat and listened to the messages of repentance; however they never considered it seriously. They ignored the love of God. In verse 31b we read “Their mouths speak of love, but their hearts are greed for unjust gain.” We did not love God, but He loved us even before we were born. In order to rescue us from the sins of flesh, He sent Jesus Christ as a sacrifice on that cursed cross. That’s the love of self-sacrifice, self-giving and unconditional. Do we love God as He loved us?
In Old Testament we read about Enoch, who walked with God all his life and one day he was taken away. He walked with God more than 300 years. How did that happen? He had a long term relationship with God which grew day by day. In order to have our love relationship with God for long term we must have a desire in us to love God. When you think about the sacrifice he has done for us on the cross, automatically we will fall in love with gratitude. We must nurture and nourish our love everyday with Prayer and Word of God in order to sustain our relationship for long term. Even if things do not go the way we wanted, we should keep the faith and trust in our loving God. Perhaps as I mentioned before, we may be a disciplined Christian leading a moral life, reading Bible, praying, going to church but do we have the connection or intimacy with God? We read this in Luke 11:1 “One day Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.” The disciples desired to have the same connection Jesus had with His father. Do we have that desire in us? God is consuming fire; however he is the loving God who seeks us all the time. He wanted to us to come to a level of relationship where he will stop and listen to us. He wants to spend time with us and share His thoughts with us.
Let us read Genesis 18:16-33 (please read the passage in your Bible). Because of the sins of Sodomites, God was angry and wanted to destroy the nation. In verse 17 we read “Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do”. God spoke to Abraham about his plan to destroy the land, but Abraham remained standing before the Lord. In next verses we can see him having a conversation with God. The relationship between God and Abraham was so deep. That’s the reason; God was so patient to hear Abraham and his justification against the destruction of the city. Every time God says “For the sake of certain number of believers…I will not do it”. The God we serve loves us so much and He will stand there and listen to you when you approach him.
When I read the accounts of a woman in Bible mentioned in Luke 7:36-50, I realised certain truths related to our love to our saviour. This sinful woman gave her best gift, her whole life savings and showed her great love to her Lord. This was also an act of selfless love, humbleness and worship. Even though it’s not written, I believe this lady was a disciple of Jesus. There was no need to spend her expensive perfume to prove her love. But she valued Jesus more than her earthly treasure and that’s the best offering she can give to the Lord who saved her from a wretched life. Once she was broken, desperate and reached the end of her life rope. Now she found the solace in Jesus Christ who saw her crushed spirit. As John Newton, the slave trader sang “Amazing Grace, how sweet as sound, that saved a wretch like me”. The woman did not care about the Pharisees, the guests in the house or the criticising disciples. Even though she was not invited for the event, her love for her master made her to break all the barriers. She stood behind Jesus, her tears was falling on his feet. She wiped the feet with her hair and kissed them. Also then she poured an alabaster jar of expensive perfume oil, her whole life savings, on his feet. Her love to Christ was too well rooted to be weakened by the criticising Pharisees or disciples. She did not notice any of them, because her Lord was there and she was safe. She was set high in honour by the words of her redeemer “Your sins are forgiven. Your faith has saved you, go in peace”.
To conclude I just want to say that TRUE LOVE is…
- Possessive - 8:6a
2. Passionate / Permanent - 8:6b
“For love is strong as death, its jealous is cruel as the grave”. The word jealousy is also called as passion. Shulamite says that her true love lasts till she dies and her passion will be there till she goes to grave. This is the love we should have towards our Saviour. When we have that passion about satisfying our Lord all times, we never think about anything else in this world. In 1 Corinthians 13:4-8, we can read as ““Love is patient, love is kind. It (Love) does not envy, (Love) it does not boast, (Love) it is not proud. (Love) It does not dishonour others, (Love) it is not self-seeking, (Love) it is not easily angered, (Love) it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. Love (It) always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always preserves. Love never fails”. Can we keep “Our Name” in the place where it says “Love”? Let us read the verse again. How does it feel? If your name is John then it should read as “John is not proud, John does not dishonour others…….”.
3. Powerful / wholehearted - 8:6c
“It burns like blazing fire, like a mighty flame”. This means how enthusiastic are we to love our God. That’s the love Paul had for Jesus. The Bible tells us, "Never be lacking in ZEAL, but keep your spiritual FERVOUR, serving the Lord!"--Romans 12:11.
Apostle Paul was a zealous and powerful man. Nothing could quench Paul’s zeal. In his own words he says “Five times I received from the Jews forty lashes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day adrift in the open sea, and I have been constantly on the move. I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my own countrymen, in danger from the Gentiles; in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea; and in danger from false brothers! I have laboured and toiled and have often gone without sleep; I have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food; I have been cold and naked." 2 Corinthians 11:24-27. Nothing can stop anyone who is fired with passion and on fire for God. How do we get this? By praying to God to empower and fill us with the power of His Holy Spirit.
4. Persevering - 8:7a
“Many waters cannot quench love; rivers cannot sweep it away”. Here waters are figuratively said to the problems we might face when our love to God is growing. No matter how threatening circumstances come around, the love cannot be defeated. True love perseveres regardless of the situations. During marriage when both bride and bridegroom joined their hands by saying to each other “ to have and to hold from this day forward, for better for worse, for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health, till death do us part”. This love is not a changeable; it’s the love that perseveres. Jeremiah was a great example of man who suffered for the truth. There were false accusations against him and was persecuted by his own people, the King, the priests and false prophets. He did not do anything wrong, was being honest telling the word of God. Even though he had a freedom to go to Babylon, he chose to say with the remnant in Babylon. At the end even though he was stoned to death, his love to his Lord was so strong. Paul clearly mentions that in Hebrews 11:36-38
5. Precious - 8:7b
In 8:7b we read “If one were to give all the wealth of ones house for love, it would be utterly rejected” Yes true love can never be bought and it’s priceless. The woman who gave her precious expensive oil for Jesus is a great example. When she broke that jar, she was making clear that nothing else is too precious for her in this world. She loved him with an extravagant love. The Shulamite was also willing to endure anything just to be reunited with her beloved. She did behave uncaring before, now her heart longs to be in his arms. What price are we willing to pay to become closer to Lord Jesus? Even though she was humiliated by the watch men, by taking her veil and wounding her, she did not deter from her mission in finding him. Are we like this woman, reach the place where we are lovesick for Jesus?
Two little lines I heard one day,
Traveling along life’s busy way;
Bringing conviction to my heart,
And from my mind would not depart;
Only one life, twill soon be past,
Only what’s done for Christ will last.
A Poem by - C T Studd
