The Mystery of Marriage

Scripture: Song of Solomon 2:8-13 Has anyone other than me ever wondered what a romance novel is doing in the bible? Seriously the content of this on book if it were to be made into a movie would be rate R if not X. Yet here it is in scripture and here you are reading it. There are some that will spiritualize the book and say all the intimacy is symbolic of our relationship with God. Bernard of Clairvaux has a very great work in this area one I personally fell in love with. The thing is Bernard was a monk so I can understand why he refered every form of intimacy to his relationship with God. On the flip side there are some that will basically take the book as it is written. Which is a love story between Solomon and one of his 400 odd wives. I can understand this as well. Their are seveal great teachers that use this book to teach other about love and marriage. The thing is life is physical and spiritual. I believe that both ways of looking at may be benifital. I think we miss out of the totality of this book because we look at it in one of these two ways. It is no wonder that our ideas of sexuality and marriage are so messed up. You see a love story is in the bible that should tell us that there is more to marriage than the physical. There is a spiritual side to it as well. One that reflects and reminds us of God the creator and lover of creation. Marriage is a reenactment of creation in some way. The love and passion God had in creating the world is reflected in the love and passion between the couple. The issue is marriage has become cheap. Too many people enter an exit too easily and many fail to even reflect on what is behind this most sacred of mysteries. It is sacred because it is the part of human relations that we can participate in the ongoing creation of the world around us. It is not for everyone. It is an act of worship. Without God it is merely a biological expression. Without the physical it is a pointless contract with shared assets. It has meaning only through and in God, we cannot make it anything it is not. It is a sacred act of worship honoring creation, the intimacy and dedication God has for humanity, and honoring to humanity. Have we ever really honestly looked at marriage? We are getting worked up about it but why? I know we have various ideas, but what are our ideas based ourselves or God? I am going to guess that most of us have a personal agenda of some sort, and along with that I am sure each of us have a very messed up understanding of marriage and human sexuality. “Arise, my love, my fair one and come away” God is calling us to a relationship with him. Before we do too much with marriage maybe we need to learn a bit about love first. Today as you pray I encourage you all to consider your relationships and how they encourage both the body and spirit.