Pierced Through by Love
Song of Songs 5:8 (TPT)
I was reading recently the Song of Songs. It is a beautiful picture of Christ's love for His bride- the Church- and the love of the bride to her beloved. The KJV and most other versions render this verse as: "If you find my beloved, That you tell him I am lovesick" or something similar to that. But in The Passion Translation it states: "I've been pierced through by love...." That phrase really caught my attention. So I started a word search. The word "love sick" or "sick of love" describes one who is deeply in love with someone, so much so that they are weak with desire, love sick. It comes from a root word from the Greek Old Testament-meaning wounded or pierced and to me- describes a love that is willing to be wounded- not in the sense of harm- but pierced through. It goes much deeper than the kind of love we describe in a marriage today.
In the Old Testament law it stated that a servant in his 7th year had the choice to either leave or stay with that family and household. ( Deuteronomy 15:16,17). But if that servant wished to stay with the family, the head of the house would pierce his ear as a symbol of love and commitment to that person or family. It was their choice. They had the freedom to choose whether to stay or go. What a love- to choose to stay, to "not turn aside" and enjoy the benefits and responsibilities of that home and family. It wasn't a burden, but a delight to stay.
Isaiah 53:5- "But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our
iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His
stripes we are healed". The word "wounded" here in the Hebrew can mean to "bore through" to "pierce". It comes from the same word in our text of Song of Songs- pierced through. The bride here says that she will not be turned aside-the bride being compared to the Church. Christ on the cross was willing to go through the physical suffering in order to purchase our salvation, to offer us a way to destroy the works of sin and death, to remove the curse and cleanse us of Adam's sin on mankind. He was willing to do all this, to suffer untold pain as no human could have- and to offer us full salvation. That is love!!! That is a piercing love (literally).
Pierced through by love- not turning aside. Wow! Talk about piercing- that pierces my heart today! Is my love for Christ so deep that I am willing to be pierced through? Am I willing to commit so entirely, so fully as to allow God through Christ to wound me- pierce me- have an awl to pierce my ear? That, my friend is deep love and commitment. Are we willing to be wounded for Christ? I am not talking about having Him do something that is harmful to us- but it is wounding our own flesh, our own desires and plans- to pierce us through into the deepest recessions of our innermost beings. To be thoroughly searched by God and to truly know my heart as He knows it? (Psalm 139:23-24). Lately, I have been experiencing a season of really seeing my heart and what is inside. It is not a pretty picture for sure. I go along serving God and think that a lot of things in my life has been taken care of- then- WHAM! Out of nowhere, something has triggered my flesh to rise up- and I put my hands on my head and exclaim- "Just where did that come from?" It is God, showing me my heart like He sees it and also to make me realize once again, how very much I need Christ! We will never be fully free from our fleshly nature until we receive our immortal bodies when Christ returns. But in the meantime He takes us from one level into another level- ever transforming us into His image. This is the Christian walk. It is a walk of victories, but also a walk of failures- failing ourselves in our flesh to make us realize that we are not there yet. We are not there yet! But He is taking us there by allowing ourselves to be pierced through by His love, to be wounded in our fleshly selves and then to thrust ourselves onto the grace and mercy of God. When we come through one of these seasons, we see where we have changed and grown more into Christ's image. It is a process.
I didn't think about this month, February, being "Heart Month"- our physical health month and also Valentine's Day. We hear a lot about love during this month. But looking at it from this point of view kind of puts it all into perspective, doesn't it? God's love must come first- He first loved us- that is why we can love. I thank God for the piercings. I thank God that He loves me enough to not leave me in my mess. He loves me enough to show me the areas that I must change and allow His Spirit to do the work inside of me. He loves me so much that He has me go through seasons where I can see my heart as He does and I do something about it.
Pierced through. Are you willing to allow Christ to pierce you through with His love? Are you willing to allow Him to bring about the changes in your life that are necessary to lead a glorious and victorious life? Are you truly willing to allow Him to crush those earthly desires and plans and let Him birth inside of you His desires and plans? And then to "not turn aside" when the way gets rough? It is a process, one that I am still learning to lean heavy on Christ's grace and mercy as I allow Him to pierce, to wound those things that are not needful, those things that I hold on to- those things that hinder me from being all that He desires for me.
Pierced through and not turn aside.
Are you willing?
Dear Lord, help me to let go of those hindrances that keep You from doing Your best in me. May I not turn aside to other things or people, but allow You to pierce me through with Your love- to the point that I can truly, deeply love You and Your will for me. In Christ's lovely name, Amen.
~Donna
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