Run After Him

The bride was shy and self-conscious. But the groom sang over her with delight. "O most beautiful among women," he intoned (Song of Songs 1:8 ESV). Solomon was in love, captivated by this woman, so he wrote a song, but not just any song, the Song of Songs. Solomon had written more than a thousand songs, but none better than the one he sang over the woman he loved.

In the Song of Songs, Solomon recorded the longing, the affection, the beauty as the lovers sang to each other during their weeklong wedding feast, which began their life together:
"Behold, you are beautiful, my love; behold, you are beautiful" he sang to her (1:15 ESV).

"My beloved is mine and I am his," her heart sang in response (Song of Songs 2:16). The pure melody of his passionate love drew her to trust him and give herself fully to him.

God is the Lover of your soul who sings over you. Like Solomon, He sings, "You are altogether beautiful, my darling, beautiful in every way” (4:7). You can trust his lyric of love and give yourself fully to him.

God loves you passionately, perfectly, and personally. He doesn’t just want you as a believer or a follower. He wants you as his beloved. He loves you, and he draws you to him so you will love him back.

Sometimes we only think of devotion to God as duty. But God considers time spent with you as delight. He delights in you as does a master in his painting, a groom in his bride, or a mother in her newborn. That’s why “his banner over you is love” (2:4)

Rest beneath that banner today. You may feel shy or self-conscious, insecure, or unworthy, but trust that God unconditionally loves you. He has placed you like a “seal over his heart” (8:6). You can trust that his love will never, ever let you go because “love is as strong as death, it’s jealousy and yielding as the grave. It burns like blazing fire, like a mighty flame” (8:6)

Devotions from: 66 Ways God Loves You by Jennifer Rothschild