Picking up where I left off last time in the chapter titled, “Our Romantic God”, the Bride goes on to say to her Beloved in the book of the Song of Solomon 4:16–5:1 in The Passion Translation
“Then may your awakening breath blow upon my life until I am fully yours. Breathe upon me with your Spirit wind. Stir up the sweet spice of your life within me. Spare nothing as you make me your fruitful garden. Hold nothing back until I release your fragrance.” Jesus’s life within us is the sweet spice and we can become His fruitful garden and release His fragrance into the earth.
Is this not the longing heart of those who are His Bride, who want to give themselves fully to Him? In these verses, the Bride pursues her Bridegroom God, desiring to please Him in all things. This does not speak entirely of a natural love…these words are spiritual, spoken by the Bride of Christ to her King Jesus. Then she says to Him,..
“Come walk with me as you walked with Adam in your paradise garden. Come taste the fruits of your life in me.” Then the Bridegroom (Jesus) replies, longing to see His Bride come to completeness…: “I have come to you, my darling bride, for you are my paradise garden! And the Bride responds: “Come walk with me until I am fully yours. Come taste the fruits of your life in me.“
Do we not invite Him to be with us, to change us into His image, that we might be in harmony with His desires and His plan for us? Do we not converse with Him, desiring to know His love in a greater way? As believers if we do not, we need to examine our relationship with the Lover of our souls, the Creator of the Universe, the One Who came to earth and shed His blood that we might be raised into a new life. Being a Christian is not just about knowing things about God, although that is good…it is also about having a one-on-one love relationship with Him Who created us. As we study and learn things about Him, it should excite our hearts to love Him more and to experience His love for us too.
The Bridegroom says,“I have gathered from your heart, my equal, my bride, I have gathered from my garden all my sacred spices—even my myrrh. I have tasted and enjoyed my wine within you. I have tasted with pleasure my pure milk, my honeycomb which you yield to me; I delight in gathering my sacred spice, all the fruits of my life I have gathered from within you, my paradise garden. 5:1
Jesus is very pleased to see us become like Him. He checks out our “fruit” of the Spirit. Are we yielding to Him when He prompts or nudges us? Or do we push that nudge away, doing our own desires, ignoring His quiet whispers to us? I find it is very easy to push away those slight nudges in my hurry to “get things done.” Many days I am too much like Martha and not enough like Mary.
Referencing this part of the verse,“I have tasted with pleasure my pure milk, my honeycomb, which you yield to me. I delight in gathering my sacred spice, all the fruits of my life I have gathered from within you, my paradise garden…” We are supposed to desire the pure milk of the word of God, but not to stay there…only babies require milk, and we must grow and mature and be tested until we can eat of the solid meat of the word.
“Oh taste and see that the Lord is good; Blessed is the man who trusts in him! Psalms 34:8. Taste of God’s goodness. You will not be disappointed! The TPT version says it this way, “Drink deeply of the pleasures of this God. Experience for yourself the joyous mercies He gives to all who turn to hide in Him.”
Jesus is forming, shaping, and molding His Bride. You don’t want to miss out. It will cost, you, but it will be worth it all. “Therefore as the Holy Spirit says, ‘Today if you will hear his voice, do not harden your hearts….'” Hebrews 3:7-8
Dogtags and Pearls...the plain and the precious 