Mon.’s Devo - The Blessings of Giving Ourselves Away

Read: Song of Solomon 5:1-8:14; 2 Corinthians 9:1-15; Psalm 51:1-19; Proverbs 22:24-25 Jesus calls us his garden. In us he gathers myrrh and honey. He drinks wine with us which is sweet fellowship. He compares this wine to love. One day the lover comes and the young woman is not ready for him so he leaves. She then repents and goes to open the door only to find him gone and she is devastated. She searches for him everywhere. She describes him to those she sees using beautiful words of love. When she remembers what he is like, she knows exactly where he is. He is in his garden gathering lilies. This makes me think of how the Jews were the Lord’s people but they were not ready when he came. When Jesus died, many of them did wake up to realize he was indeed the long awaited Messiah, but as a nation they did not. The Gentiles were then awakened to salvation and they were the new garden that became his delight. Next in the story, the Jewish woman arises like the dawn and returns to the Lord and catches the eye of her savior or vice versa. She loves him in secret which is where the Jews are right now. Many of them have to keep their salvation under wraps because they would be ousted from their synagogues. She talks of the next generation as her little sister who is young and immature. She is hoping that she is faithful and pure and will follow in the right path. She tells her own story of awakening to the Saviour’s love. She freely gives her life to him and lives to hear his voice. She climbs with him to the mountain of spices. In Corinthians Paul was trying to get these Greek Christians to learn the doctrine of sowing and reaping. He explained that their offerings were like seeds that would be planted into God’s work and they and the ministry would reap a great harvest. He was not wanting their money as much as he was wanting to teach them how to get God’s material blessings flowing in their lives. Lord, help us to plant seeds of love, forgiveness, kindness and our money so that the Kingdom of God will be advanced and we can grow and be blessed and be a blessing.