Glorious!

GOD is so faithful! I wish I could describe to you the joy that I feel and the smile that's on my face!

He brought me to the most beautiful book in the Word the other day, telling me to recite this:

I sit in his delightful shade, and taste his delicious fruit. He escorts me to the banquet hall; it's obvious how much he loves me (Song of Songs 2:3b-4).

He won't allow these verses to escape my mind; it's incredible!

What does shade do? It protects us from the sun. Yet, it also brings a place for coolness. Think about it... during a hot summer day we often delight in finding a shady area to rest in after we've become tired from the sun; we find a tree to sit under, one of those huge umbrellas at the beach, a gazebo, because the coolness refreshes us. And where do you go when you get all sweaty and uncomfortable from the burning hot sun? To the shade. Inside, to where there are walls that ultimately bring nothing but shade; protection. GOD's shade is protection, hence He tells us to delight in His shade.

Fruit... fruit is healthy, juicy, and refreshing. There's a reason that fruit was used in this verse, verses bread or manna. Fruits bring cleansing to the body... GOD brings cleansing to the body. There's a pattern here. When He tells us to taste His delicious fruit, He's referring to Himself, His goodness, His beauty.

He escorts me to His banquet hall. Banquet halls are used for big events or celebrations such as weddings, birthdays, or anniversary's. And an escort is a man leading a woman (but in biblical terms, men are included in being the bride); the Man in this case is GOD... He leads us, His bride, into an amazing banquet hall in celebration of having YOU at His side. This leads to the fourth part of these verses...

He does all this because of His great love that He has for you! Someone wouldn't protect you, allow you to taste their goodness, and escort you somewhere if they didn't love you. Another version says "He brings me to the banquet hall, so everyone can see how much he loves me." He wants to show you off!

I would encourage each of you to dig deep into these verses, or any other verses within Song or Songs... they are love poems for YOU from the LORD. The intimacy written within these Words are deep. They're written in the form of a husband and wife talking together... that in itself is intimate. GOD is our husband and YOU are His wife (even you men out there!), so to read this book and know that the intimacy is deeper then that of an earthly husband and wife... whew! THAT is crazy to think about. Oh but how beautiful.

How glorious!