READING: Song of Solomon 1:1-5:1
“Like a lily among thorns is my darling among the young women.”
Song of Solomon 2:2
It’s funny what genuine love does to you. You see that one person, your love, your spouse differently than you see anyone else—and you see your spouse like no one else does. In fact, sometimes we see our spouses in ways they don’t even see themselves. I’m thinking, for example, of the spouse for whom the love of a husband grants her esteem and value that she seldom felt before.
In the Song of Solomon, the woman saw herself as a “rose of Sharon, a lily of the valleys” (Song 2:1), probably something like a daffodil or a crocus. It’s likely she was simply saying that she was one of many flowers more than she was trying to heap praise on herself. In some ways, she was just common. It was her lover, though, who saw her much differently. Even if she were only a lily, she was, in his view, a “lily among thorns” (Song 2:2). That is, every other woman was but a thorn compared to the beauty of the lily who was uniquely committed to him. He saw her with eyes of love and affection like no one else did.
It’s amazing to me, too, how our eyes continue to see our spouses as we change and age. Bodies change shapes. Wrinkles develop. Hair falls out. Knees begin to weaken. We even joke about how different we look from the couple who walked down the wedding aisle with excitement and passion. Still, though, we see our spouse’s beauty—often now much more connected to inner beauty than in the early days of marriage. Nobody makes our heart leap like it does when our spouse walks in the room.
ACTION STEPS:
- Thank God for the beauty and the miracle of marriage.
- Pray for someone you know who wants to be married, but who is waiting for God’s choice.
PRAYER: “Father, thank You for the one who is the lily in my life.”
TOMORROW'S READING: Review and catch up day