Ah, these verses were at my wedding. When I received this devotional in my email box, I had to share….
Song of Songs 8
1 If only you were to me like a brother,
who was nursed at my mother’s breasts!
Then, if I found you outside,
I would kiss you,
and no one would despise me.
2 I would lead you
and bring you to my mother’s house—
she who has taught me.
I would give you spiced wine to drink,
the nectar of my pomegranates.
3 His left arm is under my head
and his right arm embraces me.
4 Daughters of Jerusalem, I charge you:
Do not arouse or awaken love
until it so desires.
Friends
5 Who is this coming up from the wilderness
leaning on her beloved?
She
Under the apple tree I roused you;
there your mother conceived you,
there she who was in labor gave you birth.
6 Place me like a seal over your heart,
like a seal on your arm;
for love is as strong as death,
its jealousy[a] unyielding as the grave.
It burns like blazing fire,
like a mighty flame.[b]
7 Many waters cannot quench love;
rivers cannot sweep it away.
If one were to give
all the wealth of one’s house for love,
it[c] would be utterly scorned.
From Romeo and Juliet to the movie Titanic, books, films and stories tell us that there is a love that is great enough to die for. Many women would say their greatest earthly desire is for true intimacy with a man-not a vague commitment or wishy-washy affection. Some might say they want a love worth dying for. Maybe you feel the same way. In fact, if you are honest, on many days you long more for the affirmation and passion of a husband than you ache for the love of God.
God is love-even your desire for love points to him as the source of all love. The love between a man and a woman is a beautiful reflection of God’s love, but you only desire that kind of love because God has placed that desire in you.
The Song of Songs presents a picture of love between a man and a woman that reflects the love of God. God doesn’t love you at a distance or remember you as an afterthought. Look at the words used to express his love: seal, strong, unyielding, blazing and unquenchable. He loves everything about you, the way you walk, talk, laugh and brush your hair. He loves you in more ways than you can ever know because he knows you through and through. He knows your thoughts, when you sit, when you rise and when you lie down (see Psalm 139).
God wants you to believe that he loves you! He doesn’t put conditions on his love. He only asks that you respond to his love: “Place me like a seal over your heart.” Imagine God saying to you, “I love you so much that I want to be with you intimately, at all times.” God loves you with the strongest love imaginable-a love that is as strong as death. In fact, he proved his love through Christ’s sacrifice on the cross. This ultimate gift showed us that his love for us was, in fact, a love worth dying for.
(from a devotional from Biblegateway.com)
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