Whom my soul loves;
I sought him but did not find him.
2 ‘I must arise now and go about the city;
In the streets and in the squares
I must seek him whom my soul loves.’
I sought him but did not find him.
3 “The watchmen who make the rounds in the city found me,
And I said, ‘Have you seen him whom my soul loves?’
4 “Scarcely had I left them
When I found him whom my soul loves;
I held on to him and would not let him go
Until I had brought him to my mother’s house,
And into the room of her who conceived me.”
Song of Solomon 3:1-4
Rarely do I hear anyone describing their relationship with God as a pursuit. In fact I hear many declaring that to pursue God is vain. I hear many saying that we must not think that our pursuit of God will result in anything since He will thwart all attempts by humans to pursue Him lest they think they had anything to do at all with their salvation......
Yet this is not the picture God has painted of our relationship with Him in His three infallible Words -- the Bible, history or creation.
In this first passage we see a love sick woman passionately seeking the one who her soul loves. In desperation she even opens herself to potential harm to seek him. Once she found him she would not let him go until she had brought him into an intimate place with her.
Seeking to redirect the intense sexual nature of the Song of Songs, as it is called in Hebrew, the church said it was an allegorical picture of Jesus and His Church. I would say that God intended it to reflect the relationship between a man and woman in love first. It does reflect our relationship with Him as well but not as an allegory but as an analogy -- as it is with this man and woman in their love for each other so it is with Jesus and His Church -- Us!
So we all know that pursuit is an essential aspect of romantic love. One of the biggest problems married couples face is taking each other for granted. The passion of intimacy is not fanned by entitlement. It is fanned by gratefulness for each other. It is fanned by continuing to pursue one another. Pursuing a deeper place of knowing each other.Pursuing a deeper place of intimacy with each other. Pursuing time together. Pursuing each other's pleasure. Pursuing serving each other.
Relationships begin to die when either partner quits pursuing the other. They never live unless both pursue each other.
We have been given the concept that God is the only one who pursues...... That leaves the possibilty that we start to see ourselves in a wrong way - that we become like selfish "important" people who everyone else gives to but to whom we give nothing.
In a love relationship on earth when one pursues and the other does not we create a horrible relationship that either actually is or at least borders on emotionally abusive...
No lover wants to pursue without eventually being pursued.
As in the Song of Songs both the man and the woman pursue each other. One hides for a time until the other pursues........ with each pursuit passion rises. So it is in our souls with God.
As the deer pants for the water brooks, So my soul pants for You, O God.
Psalm 42:1
It is absolutely true that God pursues us first but what turns the relationship into passion in our hearts is when we start to long for Him......
When we start to pursue Him.....
When as a deer pants after the vital water in the dry season, without which they will die......
when our soul longs after Him in that same way.....
No longer being pursued but desperately pursuing Him in response to His pursuit of us.....
That's when our hearts are transformed......
That's when we come to truely Love him like He loves us.....
You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart. 14 I will be found by you,’ declares the Lord,
Jeremiah 29:13
We find God only when we pursue Him with all of our being.
My friend Liz Hayward said it so elequently:
“We never grow closer to God when we just live life. It takes deliberate pursuit and attentiveness.”
As we pursue Him with our whole being we find the power granted to us to follow His ways.
With all my heart I have sought You;
Do not let me wander from Your commandments.
Psalm 119:10
Just as it is between lovers, a passive receptance of the other's love leads to emptiness. when both passionately pursue the other is when love happens.
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