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| heart made up of flowers* |
Every spring (and other days throughout the year, actually),
I pull out this gem from the Song of Songs 2:14—
“O my dove, in the clefts of the rock,
In the secret places of the cliff,
Let me see your face,
Let me hear your voice;
For your voice is sweet,
And your face is lovely.” (NKJV)
The Song of Songs can be taken literally,
to refer to husbands and their wives. The book can also be taken symbolically
to refer to Jesus and the Church, His bride. I love reading the Song through
that lens because you have to look beyond the more obvious interpretation.
In this verse, Jesus speaks an invitation to
His beloved, an invitation to get alone with Him, to commune with Him. Not only
that, but he affirms us as well. Symbolically, the voice and face could refer
to insecurities we might have, imperfections we might perceive about ourselves.
But, Jesus addresses those and displays His adoring heart.
The picture that comes to mind (bear with
me, it’s a parent-child picture, not a romantic one) is that of a child who has
melted chocolate on her face. She’s come to you for a hug. Will you reject her
because she’s a bit messy? Nope. That chocolate smudge will not hinder your
adoration of her. Jesus sees our imperfections, better than we can see them ourselves,
but those “smudges” do not, cannot block His love for us. So, He affirms us—come
to Me, get closer. Don’t hide your face.
He also wants to hear us. The psalmist
encourages us to pour out our hearts to Him. We might have insecurities about
what we hold in our hearts, about what we would voice. But Jesus knows it all
anyway. Don’t withhold your heart because it’s not full of beautiful thoughts
24/7. Just speak. Just pray. Just commune. Because Jesus accepts us!
Simply putting those thoughts into words
today encourages me. How about you?
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Photo credit: "heart made up of flowers" by "africa" at freedigitalphotos.net
