Come Away and Follow Me; Song of Solomon 1-2, Proverbs 10

May the mumbling commence!

To love someone we must make some conscious decisions.  Some things in our life will need to be left behind.  These types of things we will come away from.  Other things in our lives will need to be picked up – things that we may have ignored in the past.  Come away.  Follow me.

What do we leave behind?  We leave behind those things that prevent us from worshiping God – whatever they are.  Think about how we make sacrifices for the ones we love.  Think particularly about how willing to make such sacrifices when love is young and blossoming.  Read from the love song contained in the Song of Solomon.  Read from chapter two:

My beloved spoke, and said to me:

"Rise up, my love, my fair one,

And come away. 

For lo, the winter is past,

The rain is over and gone. 

The flowers appear on the earth;

The time of singing has come,

And the voice of the turtledove

Is heard in our land. 

The fig tree puts forth her green figs,

And the vines with the tender grapes

Give a good smell.

Rise up, my love, my fair one,

And come away!” (Verses 10-13)

Rise up and come away.  Look at the world about you.  Stop and smell the wildflowers.  Listen to the birdsong.  See the early blossoms of the fruit trees and the grape vines.

Love is in the air.  Love is eternal spring – new life, new hope.  Love is all around us.  We only need to open our eyes and ears to see it.  Breathe deeply of love’s fragrance.  Taste of its sweetness.

Call one another by secret and sweet names – my beloved, my love, my fair one.

Forget about the slow death of autumn and winter.  The rains that once seemed so depressing have brought forth flowers and fruit.  They have brought forth new light and color and fragrance and taste to our lives.  Choose to embrace that love.

That love is the love of Christ Jesus.  Through the death of Christ, there is new life.  Praise God!  That love covers all sins.  Leave those sins of commission and omission behind.  Otherwise, hatred and bitterness will stir up strife.  Read from Proverbs chapter ten:

Hatred stirs up strife,

But love covers all sins. (Verse 12)

What a valentine!  What a love!  Let us remember our various loves of one another this upcoming Lenten season.  Even as we embrace the mortality of ourselves, we will embrace the love that grows eternal within and without the body of Christ.

Enough mumbling for now…

Peace Out