Readings for today: Song of Solomon 5-8, Psalms 12
There is nothing like the love of God. No force in the universe is as powerful. Not gravity. Not electromagnetism. Not the strong or weak nuclear forces that hold together the atom. Not the laws of quantum physics or thermodynamics. God’s love is the connective tissue that holds all space and time and matter together. It is the animating force for all of life. Everything that has breath. Everything that crawls on the earth or swims in the sea or flies in the air. Every person on earth. All of it held together by the love of God. God’s love is the operating system of all of life. It is both the hardware and the software off which everything runs. It operates in the background and the foreground. It is both tangible and intangible. Concrete and incorporeal. Expressive and ineffable. And there may not be a better description of it than what’s written here at the end of the Song of Solomon…
“Set me as a seal on your heart, as a seal on your arm. For love is as strong as death; jealousy is as unrelenting as Sheol. Love’s flames are fiery flames — an almighty flame! A huge torrent cannot extinguish love; rivers cannot sweep it away. If a man were to give all his wealth for love, it would be utterly scorned.” (Song of Songs 8:6-7 CSB)
Imagine how your life would change if you truly believed and walked in the love described here by Solomon. Imagine if you believed God had set you as a seal on His heart and arm. Imagine if you believed God’s love for you transcended death and Hades. Imagine if you believed God’s love for you was fierce and jealous. Imagine you believed God’s love for you could never be lost or expire or be extinguished, no matter what you said or did. Imagine if you believed God’s love could not be bought or earned but was a gift of grace. How would it change your life? How would it change how you lived? How would it change the relationships in your life? How would it change how you spent your time and money and energy? Imagine how different things would be for you if you tapped into this unquenchable, inexhaustible love every single day?
Readings for tomorrow: Jeremiah 1-3, Psalms 13 (No devotionals on Sundays)