Pursued...By the Lover of My Soul

"I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with loving-kindness."  Jeremiah 31:3 (NIV)

Last night I said it right out loud.  I had a witness...my husband.  I said that I needed to get on a better schedule.  With the end of the school year and the beginning of summer, I've fallen into a pattern of staying up late (so not me!) and sleeping late (mmmm, liked that part).  The problem was that so much of my most productive part of the day...mornings for me...was being wasted.  One of the things that I love so much about summer is leisurely morning time in the Word.  I was missing some of the best of that...quiet time before anyone else is up...time when it's just me and God...well and my faithful companion, Cocoa, my little daschund.  Yeah, so I said those words, and obviously my hubby wasn't the only one to hear them.  God did.  And I think He considered it to be a prayer...and He answered!  I woke up around 4:30, laid in bed, so nice and cozy...prayed for my family, my pastor, my friends...then I knew I had to do it.  I had to get up!  God had some things to show me, some things to tell me.  I'm so glad I didn't miss the rising of the sun, the songs of praise that the birds raised, the breeze that enveloped me as if it was the arms of God Himself.  And  then as I opened His Word, he spoke...as the lover of my soul...His whispers of love for me.

I went first to my daily reading in my One Year Chronological Bible, (Yes!  I finally caught up!) which I enjoy with my sister of the heart, Wendy, my sweet Mama, and my dear friend, Gloria.  At first I was a little disappointed when I saw that the reading would be from The Song of Songs...not what I usually consider to be my favorite manna from the Word.  The book of The Song of Songs (or The Song of Solomon) is often preached as a human love story, a romantic encounter...yet sometimes comical to me, when expressing his sentiments about his lover's beauty by comparing her hair to a flock of goats and her teeth to a flock of sheep just shorn.  But, as I read in my Disciple's Study Bible introduction, "Later traditions of Judaism and Christianity have used allegorical and typological methods of interpretation to extend the meaning of the Song of Songs to God's love with His people and Christ's love for the church."  I read it fresh and with a new perspective...and experienced a love that filled my soul!

This morning "I slept, but my heart was awake, when I heard [the lover of my soul] knocking and calling." (v. 5:2)  He said, "Rise up, my darling!  Come away with me, my fair one!  Look, the winter is past, and the rains are over and gone.  The flowers are springing up, the season of singing birds has come, and the cooing of turtledoves fills the air.  The fig trees are forming young fruit, and the fragrant grapevines are blossoming.  Rise up, my darling!  Come away with me, my fair one!"  (vs.2:10-13)   He reminded me that "[I] have captured [His] heart..."  I am His "treasure, [His] bride." (v. 4:9)  He loves me.  He loves you.  He pursues us...passionately...morning by morning.  Let's hear His call and Arise!

Lord, Your love is beyond our comprehension.  Help us to not only catch a glimpse of the heights and depths of your love, but to see it boldly and clearly and believe it with all of our hearts!

My blogger friends, this morning, I felt that God was also calling me to begin something...that I approach with some fear and trembling, afraid that I won't do it justice...or complete the tasks...but I obeyed today...before this blog post.  I started yet another blog...one for brief daily devotions.  Pray for me to continue the obedience, to be consistent, to yield to Him.  I hope to be much more committed to that daily nugget than I am to this more lengthy writing.  Take a peek at Grace for Today-Daily Devotional!!