The Song of Solomon, also known as the Song of Songs, or the Canticles, is one of the harder books of the Bible to interpret and understand. Frankly, I'm not sure how to do a devotional from the book, other than to say that it teaches us something pretty important about the marital relationship.
The fact is that the wording of the Song is so vivid, so sensual, that many through the years have taken to interpreting the Song as an allegory. For many of the rabbinic Jewish interpreters, the song was an illustration of the love between Israel and God. Many Christian interpreters have allegorized this Song to make it speak of Christ and the church.
That is simply not what the text says and is an unfortunate misreading of the intent of the book. If we fail to understand the important message of the book, and the approach of the church toward sexual and moral matters is skewed. Too often, evangelical Christians have had negative attitudes toward sex - as if it is something dirty, shameful and ungodly. The Song reminds us that it was God who created us male and female and called his creation very good. Within the boundaries of marriage, sex is holy and sacred, a beautiful gift of God. It is only when God's intent for marriage - one man and one woman for life - is forgotten that sex becomes sinful.
Having said that, there may not be a plethora of devotional material in this book, but 2 Corinthians 5 is full of some of the greatest truths you could ever consider.
2 Corinthians 5:7 reminds us that we walk by faith, not by sight. Faith is living according to God's will and Word when you can't see the outcome, can't understand what God is calling you to do, can't see the outcome. It's faith.
Verse 17 reminds us that when we come to Christ, we are not just reformed, we are made completely new - new in Christ. That which is old, which is of the sin nature, it is gone. That which is new, which comes from Christ replaces that.
What a blessing verse 19 is, where we learn that the reconciliation we have in Christ is rooted in the fact that God does not treat us as our sins deserve, he does not "count our trespasses against (us)." As a professional and experienced sinner, I appreciate that God's grace abounds to sinners!
Verses 19-20 remind us that we have been granted the ministry of reconciliation, becoming ambassadors for Christ to tell the world about the amazing grace we have received and which is available to all who repent and believe!
The chapter ends on a high note, a Himalayan high note. Verse 21 says,
He made the One who did not know sin to be sin for us, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.
Because Jesus became sin we can become righteous. Can anyone say amen?
Father, I thank you for the grace you have poured out on sinners like me. May I faithfully represent you and be the ambassador of Christ I have been called to be.
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