Song of Solomon / chapter 6 (read the chapter)
Love is a mysterious and powerful thing. We have a hard time truly defining it, yet we all know it can be exhilarating or devastating. It can bruise and it can heal. It can affirm us in the deepest part of our heart, or it can confront us about the need to change. This last part is, to me, one of the great mysteries of love—how it has the ability to “mature” us into better people. Continue Reading »
Song of Solomon / chapter 5 (read the chapter)
Unless you think love is all roses and sweet feelings, think again. One of the beauties of this book of the Bible is that it presents love in a truly realistic way—not as a fantasy, but as a real exchange between two people, incorporating highs and lows, thrills and frustrations. And, how does true love respond to this reality? More specifically, what is the response of true love when it is rebuffed? That is the subject of this chapter. Continue Reading »
Song of Solomon / chapter 4 (read the chapter)
When I lived in England, one of my favorite places to visit was Sylvia’s Garden—an out-of-the-way place with old stone benches, blooming flowers and bushes, a man-made pool, and lots of serenity. There was not a more peaceful, calming place in all the world. I went there a lot to think and pray. Continue Reading »
Song of Solomon / chapter 3 (read the chapter)
In this chapter, the maiden is having a dream that she can’t find her beloved. She jumps out of bed in the middle of the night and scours the city, looking everywhere for him. Finally, she finds him: “Scarcely had I passed them when I found the one my heart loves. I held him and would not let him go.” (vs 4) Continue Reading »
Song of Solomon / chapter 2 (read the chapter)
I can totally identify with the woman’s words in chapter 2: “As an apricot tree stands out in the forest, my lover stands above the young men in town. All I want is to sit in his shade, to taste and savor his delicious love. He took me home with him for a festive meal, but his eyes feasted on me! Oh! Give me something refreshing to eat—and quickly! Apricots, raisins—anything. I’m about to faint with love! His left hand cradles my head, and his right arm encircles my waist!” (vs 3-6) Continue Reading »
Song of Solomon / chapter 1 (read the chapter)
If you were going to write the “song of all songs” to be published in the Bible, what would you write about? What subject would you choose for the song that would be greater than any other song? I don’t know about you, but I suspect most Christians would choose to write a song of praise and worship to God. Don’t you think that’s what God would want? A song that exalted Him? Continue Reading »
Ecclesiastes / chapter 12 (read the chapter)
It’s interesting, isn’t it? Solomon traveled the world, tasted every delight, sampled every pleasure, and denied himself nothing. And at the end of it all, he was left to conclude that all was empty and meaningless, except for this: “Have reverence for God, and obey his commands, because this is all that we were created for.” (vs 13) Continue Reading »
Ecclesiastes / chapter 11 (read the chapter)
How, then, shall we live? Solomon has spent a whole lot of time despairing about the condition of this world—how many things are empty and meaningless and random! He says we don’t have control over our lives, and much of what we do goes either unnoticed or unrewarded. So, we must come to this question: How, then, shall we live? Continue Reading »
Ecclesiastes / chapter 10 (read the chapter)
Solomon begins this chapter with an interesting proverb: “As dead flies give perfume a bad smell, so a little folly outweighs wisdom and honor.” (vs 1) He’s saying that it takes far more energy to create something beautiful than it does to muck it up. And unfortunately, in this world, there are people who would rather spend their time going around tearing things down than building things up. Continue Reading »
Ecclesiastes / chapter 9 (read the chapter)
Just in case we didn’t get the message in chapter 8 yesterday, Solomon continues to drive home the point about having little control over the things that happen to us in life: “The race is not to the swift or the battle to the strong, nor does food come to the wise or wealth to the brilliant or favor to the learned; but time and chance happen to them all.” (vs 11) Continue Reading »
