Focal passage: Song of Solomon 5:6-16
My wife and I welcomed our fourth child this summer. As we relive all the sweet moments of life with a newborn, I have been reminded of the unique challenge that this season brings. Each of us is busy at every waking moment with responsibilities both inside and outside the home. It’s easy to emerge from the sleep-deprived fog of the newborn phase as a well-oiled machine of parental efficiency only to discover you’re functioning as co-workers in the workplace of the home.
Songs of Solomon reminds us that love takes hard work and maintenance.
Yet, this truth is not restricted to marriage alone. How many of us enter into new ministerial endeavors with the zeal of an Olympian during opening ceremonies only to later find ourselves wondering why we’re even doing this to begin with? For how many of us has the luster of a life in pursuit and service of Jesus faded into formulaic repetition?
It takes time to sit still and look back, and our schedules cannot bear it. Yet we are called precisely to do look back and remember. Remember our first love. Remember His mighty deliverance through every storm. When we look back, we may recognize that the great work of love has already been done for us and now we must simply live in it.