Today's Reading:O.T. - Song of Songs 1 - 4
N.T. - 1 Corinthians 7
Focus Verses:
Song of Songs 1:4b; 2:15
4b Friends: We rejoice and delight in you; we will praise your love more than wine.
15 Lover: Catch for us the foxes, the little foxes that ruin the vineyards, our vineyards that are in bloom.
Insight:
June is typically a month for weddings. I myself will be officiating at two weddings in the next few weeks. It is wonderful to celebrate the love and commitment of friends who are joining their lives in holy matrimony. How important it is for friends and family to chime in with words of affirmation and joy, just like the chorus of friends in Song of Songs.
Including the perspective of friends and family in Song of Songs serves to remind us that marriage is not simply a private arrangement between two people in love, instead it is a covenant two people make in the context of a larger community. The two people are committed to each other, and the community around them acknowledges, supports, and celebrates that commitment.
The husband and wife must guard against anything that would diminish their love and faithfulness to each other. Friends, family, and neighbors should also help guard against any "foxes" that threaten to ruin the "vineyard" of the couple's marriage.
Response and Action:
I will affirm and support the love, commitment, and faithfulness of all my married friends. I will rejoice and celebrate the new marriages that are taking place this summer in my circles of friendship, church, and community. I want to do everything I can to encourage my friends in their marriages and to cheer them on toward deeper and richer relationships. I want to stand against anything that destroys or threatens marriages.
O God, thank you for the special relationship you have established for a husband and a wife. Thank you that it is a covenant relationship of love. Strengthen the bonds and deepen the true friendship of all lovers who look to you as the sustainer of their marriage and the source of their love. Help me to value and celebrate the joy and sanctity of marriage. Amen.
Proverbs: 7:4-5
"Say to wisdom, 'You are my sister,' and call understanding your kinsman; they will keep you from the adulteress, from the wayward wife with her seductive words."
Resources:
Covenant Marriage: Building Communication & Intimacy
by Gary D. Chapman
