I hope that throughout this past week you have been loving the Lord with all your heart. I hope that He has been placed in His rightful position as your “first love.”
I hope that we can grow deeper in our love for our God by discovering how to also love Him with all our soul. In review of Mark 12:30-31, “And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength; this is the first commandment…There is none other commandment greater.”
Our soul is that part of us that is created and designed by God to be eternal. God owns our soul. (Ezek. 18:4 & Job 12:10) When our body dies, our soul returns to Him. Eccl.2:7, “Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was; and the spirit shall return unto God Who gave it.” It is within our soul, that eternal part of us, that we spiritually worship the One who has given us eternal life, through faith in Jesus Christ. I believe it is in this spiritual portion of us that we fellowship, and commune with the One Who loved us first.
Remember Revelation 3:20 “…if anyone hear My voice, and open the door, I will come in to them, and will sup with them, and they with Me.” See, Jesus longs for that intimate time with us. A time of close and personal companionship; joyful communion together. Without distraction, nor interruption. Focused on each other. A time to abide together united as One. It is of the utmost importance that we come aside from this world, and busy life, to find time to spend with our Beloved.
I am reminded of a hymn named “The Heavenly Vision,” by Helen Holwarth Lemmel. The chorus says, “Turn your eyes upon Jesus, look full in His wonderful face, and the things of earth will grow strangely dim, in the light of His glory and grace.”
If we turn our gaze away from this present world, and look through the spiritual eyes of our soul, and focus fully on Jesus, we cannot remain the same; we cannot remain unchanged. We will fall completely, unashamedly in love with our Lord and Savior. He becomes the love of our life. The center of our universe. Because He is all that is good, and right, and all together beautiful. We become willing to lay down this world’s temporal trinkets, and to choose that eternal priceless treasure. Jesus is better. He alone is Worthy of my all, my best, my loyal love.
Matthew 13:44-46, “Again, the kingdom of Heaven is like unto treasure hid in a field; the which when a man hath found, he hides it, and for joy thereof goes and sells all that he hath, and buys the field. Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a merchant man, seeking goodly pearls: who when he had found one pearl of great price, sold all that he had, and bought it.”
Jesus, the very One who is sharing this parable, is the very One He’s telling about. Jesus is that treasure. Jesus is that one pearl. And, when we realize His great worth, we see all else as less than Him; we would trade everything to have Him.
Another parable, or similitude is found in Song of Solomon, which gives us the picture of a greater romance than Romeo and Juliet, and this story doesn’t end in tragedy. It is a glimpse of the intimate relationship of a married couple enthralled in each other’s love. This is alike to the intimate union we, the church, the Bride of Christ spiritually shares with Christ Jesus.
Throughout these eight chapters, “my beloved” appears 27 times. Here are just a few examples. S.O.S. 2:3, “As the apple tree among the trees of the wood, so is my beloved among the sons. I sat down under His shadow with great delight, and His fruit was sweet to my taste.” S.O.S. 3:4, “I found Him Whom my soul loves: I held Him, and would not let Him go”. S.O.S. 5:16, “His mouth is most sweet; yea, He is altogether lovely. This is my beloved, and this is my friend”. S.O.S. 6:3, I am my beloved’s and my beloved is mine”. S.O.S. 7:10, “I am my beloved’s, and His desire is toward me.” And His words of and to her, S.O.S. 1:15, “Behold, thou art fair, My love, behold, thou art fair; thou hast dove’s eyes.” S.O.S. 4:7, 9-15, “Thou art all fair, my love: there is not a spot in thee…Thou hast ravished My heart, my sister, my spouse…how fair is thy love…Thy lips, O My spouse, drop as the honeycomb…” S.O.S. 7:6, “How fair and how pleasant art thou, O love, for delights. S.O.S. 2:10, Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away.” And His agape love is so far greater than any other love we can compare to. Is He your One desire? Is He your valued treasure? Yes, I remind myself, and remind myself often and again. Psalm 42:1-2, “As the deer pants after the water brooks, so pants my soul after Thee, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.” “God my exceeding joy…O God my God.” (Psalm 43:4)
I Peter 2:7 says, “Unto you therefore which believe He is precious.” He, Christ Jesus is supremely valuable. To those who have received Him as Lord of their life, and the Savior of their soul, He far excels all in this temporal world, and short life. Because He is eternal. His love is everlasting. He has set His affection on those who believe on Him, and has also given us value. And He’s just getting started with us. (Eph. 5:25-30, Phil.1:6, & I Thes.5:24)
Fix you spiritual eyes upon Jesus, and, “Love the Lord thy God with all thy soul.”
Source: https://www.mtairynews.com