24 June | EVERYONE
“I am the rose of Sharon, and the lily of the valleys. Like a lily among thorns, so is my love among the daughters." Song of Solomon 2: 1,2
The Song of Solomon is a love poem between a man (often identified with King Solomon himself, who is credited with authoring it) and a peasant maiden from Shunem. The Bible does not say her name. It only identifies her as "the Shulamite." Perhaps because, in this way, the story is better suited to everyone. The book is also an allegory of the loving relationship between Christ and His church.
The Shulamite is a peasant woman who does not feel worthy of the king's love. At first, she hides. Her heart beats with love for him. But her mind tells her that she is nothing more than a simple woman, and that her destiny will be as humble as her past was and her present is.
She does not feel she deserves that love. Who is she to aspire to something so sublime? In today's text, the woman compares herself to the rose of Sharon and the lily of the valley. These are two flowers of the field that grow, humble and unnoticed, because one day they appeared in the middle of the desert.
The lover looks at her, not only for what she is but for what she will one day be because of being transformed by his love. He says, “Like a lily among thorns, so is my love among the daughters.” It is beautiful. The thorns of life almost drown her beauty. She feels suffocated, tormented, and self-conscious about the circumstances, but the young lover is willing to free her from her fears.
We are the Shulamite buried under the complex things of life, drowned by the thorns of other people's opinion, and suffocated by criticism and slander. We are unworthy; it is true. We distance ourselves from the Father, and we become deformed. However, our heart cries out for love. We are fruits of love, born to love, and our destiny is love, but we feel unworthy and condemned to crawl in the desert of this world.
Now, Christ became human and came to this Earth to pay the price for our redemption. We no longer need to hide in the caves of our past. We have done nothing good, but the Prince of the universe does not love us because we deserve it but only because of grace.
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Just as lovers love each other with an exclusive love, so the loving Father loves you exclusively. After all, we are all unique. Even better, God's love is infinite. He has "plenty" for each one of us!