Day 231

Song of Songs 5:1-8:14, 1 Corinthians 12:27-13:13, Psalm 100:1-5

I have been quite amazed by the way that some of the passages have sat so well together, the way that we see God working in our reading. Song of Songs (sometimes known as Songs of Solomon) fits where it is because we have just seen Solomon’s death, so chronologically this is where it sits best in the Bible in a year. Alongside it though we see Paul’s most wonderful passage about love.

We said yesterday that the more intimate side of Song of Songs only comes in the context of love, and then Paul tells us what love is. When you look at his words you see that although you might get “love at first sight” it is actually something that develops and matures over time. It is in a relationship of patience and kindness, of not boasting and keeping no wrongs that intimacy then comes, like it said in the first half of the book “do not arouse or awaken love” early.

Some people might say that the love pictured by Paul is not achievable, but Paul is picturing a perfect love, the love that is modelled on the love of Christ. It is this love that we should aim to achieve, for it is this kind of love that is pleasing to God. When we put Christ at the centre of our relationships, when we have him as the third chord binding us with the one we love, then the love Paul is talking about is so much more achievable. It is also the love that makes us effective for Christ. Paul says that he is nothing without love, a resounding gong, a clanging symbol. So it is the same for our walk with Christ, to be marked by love is to bear the mark of Christ.

Why not know the perfect love of Christ today and allow it to shape your love for others.