This devotional was originally published on January 25, 2019.
Have you ever seen a movie in which the main character dreams of being kissed by her beloved in the opening scene? Neither have I. Most of the romantic movies I have seen begin with a chance meeting of a guy and a girl early in the film. And if it’s a Hallmark movie (like the ones my wife watches), the two will usually hate each other at first, spend time together, soften toward one another, and then, somewhere around the 90-minute mark, we get the kiss. Films often crescendo to the kiss, but rarely lead with it.
But Song of Solomon gets right down to it from the very beginning:
The Song of Songs, which is Solomon’s.
Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth!
For your love is better than wine;
— Song of Solomon 1:1–2
We don’t have to read far to figure out what this book is all about. It is about love, desire and passion.
In Old English, passion had one very specific definition: the suffering of Christ on our behalf. Nowadays it more often refers to ardor or intense desire, often sexual in nature. Is it odd that this word now has such divergent meanings?
Not really.
Christ’s passion for his Father, and his Father’s passion for us (John 3:16), led to Christ’s suffering on our behalf. No other act in history so clearly reveals God’s passion toward us. He loves us in a way that is unfathomable and beyond our comprehension.
The best example we have for this kind of love is the passion of a husband for his wife. While not sexual in nature, God’s love for us is every bit as ardent, intense and passionate as the desire of a man for his bride. In fact, the Bible teaches that a godly marriage is actually a picture of Christ’s love for his bride, the church. It is a profound mystery (Ephesians 5:32) but one that accurately represents God’s love for us.
In this sense, Christ’s call to us is a marriage proposal. Christ wants to be yours for life, and he wants you to regard him in the same way. Christ’s offer is free, but it carries with it ramifications that are significant and life changing. When a bride says yes to her husband, she is saying yes to a new name, a new reality and a new life. Our response to Christ can have no lesser consequences.
If you have never accepted Christ’s offer of salvation, you can do so simply by acknowledging your need for him because of the sin that separates you from God (Romans 3:23) and by trusting that his death and resurrection on your behalf pays the penalty for your sins. If you will freely receive his gift of salvation, today can be your wedding day. And a wonderful marriage awaits!
What is your response to Christ’s proposal? Will you take him to be yours? He has already done everything in his power to make you his.