"CHAPTER FIVE"

 THE SONG OF SONGS (Chapter Five) "She begs he would visit it, and accept of what it produced. The believer can take little pleasure in his garden, unless Christ, the beloved of his soul, come to him, nor have any joy of the fruits of it, unless they rebound some way or other to the glory of Christ, and he will think all he has well bestowed upon him." (Matthew Henry: end of commentary to Chapter Four.)

"When you go to war, your people will serve you willingly. You are arrayed in holy garments, and your strength will be renewed each day like the morning dew." (Psalms 110:3 NLT) 

  All I have to say, is, Wow! The way I see it, there is no contest to what it is like to put everything in for Jesus Christ; whether you face the loss of all that you own, have been given that diagnostic finding that you have stage four cancer, or you find yourself alone after 50 years of marriage: Knowing and having a Friend in Jesus, is enough to make all of that seem as though it just does not matter! 

  But who am I to talk about such things as that? I feel blessed compared to some, as I see that I am well cared for and comfortable. Much the same as that famous saying, "I complained when I had no shoes, until I saw a man that had no feet," we think we have it bad until we see what it is like to have it a whole lot worse. 

  Anywho: In a strange kind of a way, this is in no way close to that type of a picture of what might be on my heart this morning; yet it is closely related, as it is something that takes into account what it might look like to base how you live out your faith, by the way you see someone else live out their faith. It is not only a bad idea, but it allows us to take our eyes off of the Standard, Jesus Christ, and settle for standard living in our lives. 

  Surely as the sun rises every morning, it will cripple your walk; your race, will become a pace; your get-to-it, will become a-round-to-it; and your passion, will become a vacation. Wait a darn second! I was reminded of something Saturday morning: The sun does not rise, at all! The sun is always right where it has always been; it is this world that turns, giving us the illusion that the sun comes and goes! Hold onto your hat, because this ride just reached its ascent...

"For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that shall be revealed in us. For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God. For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but be reason of him who hath subjected the same if hope; because the creature itself shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God." (Romans 8:18-21)