"Fear God, Love God, Serve God": "Come Away"

"My beloved spake, and said unto me,

Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away."

(Song of Solomon 2:10)

It's the hungering call of our Beloved, who longs for sweet nothings on moonlit Summer nights, as He finishes putting away the sun, flinging out the stars, and clearing the heavens for uninterrupted reflections of His love. He is Jesus Christ, our Lord, the holder of our hearts, the lover of our souls, the One who whispers love phrases in our yearning waiting ears. All He wants is some David's and some Mary Magdalene's to lavish Him with some worshipful words of fragrance to ride upon the gentle breezes He sent down to capture our love, and waft it like a lovesick poem before His longing nostrils in wait. Oh, our Lord is a romantic at heart, because He loves His creation with an everlasting love. He loves our songs sung to Him in the darkness of early morn, and He'll wake us, just to hear the voice of His beloved. Those sleepy lilts of love we offer Him, each in our own unique way, rise to Him as a precious aroma of praise. It is the sweetest of incense to the mighty God who is surrounded with Holy's, but it's lovelier from earth, because we're not yet risen and we still have a choice to ... "Come Away."

"The fig tree forms its early fruit; the blossoming vines spread their

fragrance. Arise, come, my darling; my beautiful one, come with me."

(Song of Solomon 2:13)

"Come Away With Me," He whispers through the galaxies of time, hoping for a lovesong from His long-awaited Bride. He loves His creation more than we could ever comprehend, and the Book of Song of Solomon is about the love between God and His people. Some view the Book as allegorical and Jewish interpreters favor this aspect and look upon it as Yahweh is the lover and the woman is Israel. The New testament Church followers, reformers, and scholars saw it as the lover being the Bridegroom Jesus Christ and the woman as His Bride, the Church. It can be applied either way, because the Church is the spiritual Israel; we have been grafted in, and we partake of all of the blessings of Abraham. Hallelujah!

Why is it so illogical to think that the God of the universe could love us in such an intimate way? He is a jealous God; we must have no other Gods before Him. He loves us with an everlasting love, a complete and holy love, a love deeper than humans are capable of discerning, a love that caused Him to die for the creation He formed from the dust, a love that excites Him that He will return for us ... He will catch us away to dwell with Him forever ... O, Lord Jesus, we get it ... The "come away" is a precurser to the "catch away," because You long for us; You yearn for Your bride to just give You a foretaste ... Come away ...

We serve a God who loves us with a Holy passion; He stands ready to hold us, comfort us, caress us, and touch us with His infinite mercy and tender care. His sheep know His voice and we hear His coos in the midnight hours; we feel His arms around us in the storms of life; and we know when we can walk no further, He carries us, for always underneath are His everlasting arms. There is no Savior beside Him, no other gods reign with Him; He is the only true One God and there is no other, Jesus Christ our Lord. He never leaves us nor forsakes us; we are His beloved, formed from the "dust" of the earth, His creation, and He is our Creator, the One from whom all blessings flow. We need not look any further; Jesus Christ is our God.

"Never Alone" is our song in the darkness; never alone is the hand that dries our tears. You care about our cares, Lord Jesus, and no prayer, no cry, is too small or insignificant. "For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin." (Hebrews 4:15) You know what it is to hurt, to feel pain, to suffer ridicule, to be misunderstood, to feel so alone. You know how we feel, Dear Lord, and You are close to the broken hearted and those of a contrite and humble spirit. You are our Shepherd, and we are Your sheep; You carry us through the storms, wars, torments, and fears of this world.

O, Yes, Lord, we reserve the wee hours of morning for our Beloved; we save all the sweetest lilts to sing to our lover in the silence of the late night; we break the box of extravagant perfumes, and we pour it out upon You in phrases of intimate ecstasy in loving heartfelt ardent worship; and we wait upon You Lord, as Your love flows back to us in billows of precious wonder, too magnificent and delicate for the likes of Your created human dust, for we tremble in Your presence as Your touch overwhelms our mortal earthly flesh. We Come away ...

O, Lord Jesus, we sense Your beckoning, Your loneliness for Your own creation, and we'll meet You where You are, in the place of Your longing, in Your arms of love ... We'll "Come Away."