Time for Fun and Games
Opening Prayer
Father God, guide my thoughts today so that I spend more time thinking Your thoughts and caring for Your priorities.
Read SONG OF SONGS 2:8-3:5
[8] Listen! My lover! Look! Here he comes, leaping across the mountains, bounding over the hills. [9] My lover is like a gazelle or a young stag. Look! There he stands behind our wall, gazing through the windows, peering through the lattice. [10] My lover spoke and said to me, “Arise, my darling, my beautiful one, and come with me. [11] See! The winter is past; the rains are over and gone. [12] Flowers appear on the earth; the season of singing has come, the cooing of doves is heard in our land. [13] The fig tree forms its early fruit; the blossoming vines spread their fragrance. Arise, come, my darling; my beautiful one, come with me.” [14]Lover My dove in the clefts of the rock, in the hiding places on the mountainside, show me your face, let me hear your voice; for your voice is sweet, and your face is lovely. [15] Catch for us the foxes, the little foxes that ruin the vineyards, our vineyards that are in bloom. [16]Beloved My lover is mine and I am his; he browses among the lilies. [17] Until the day breaks and the shadows flee, turn, my lover, and be like a gazelle or like a young stag on the rugged hills. [1] All night long on my bed I looked for the one my heart loves; I looked for him but did not find him. [2] I will get up now and go about the city, through its streets and squares; I will search for the one my heart loves. So I looked for him but did not find him. [3] The watchmen found me as they made their rounds in the city. “Have you seen the one my heart loves?” [4] Scarcely had I passed them when I found the one my heart loves. I held him and would not let him go till I had brought him to my mother’s house, to the room of the one who conceived me. [5] Daughters of Jerusalem, I charge you by the gazelles and by the does of the field: Do not arouse or awaken love until it so desires. Scripture taken from the Holy Bible, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 International Bible Society. All rights reserved throughout the world. Used by permission of International Bible Society.
Reflect
What season of the year is celebrated here (v. 11 ff)?Vacations allow time for fun and games, and here we have a kind of romantic hide-and-seek taking place. Beautiful yet comical, you could imagine it as an animated tapestry, each panel depicting a verse from the song. The stag represents the hope and joy of spring and fulfillment of the girl’s longings for love, but it’s not long before she’s lost sight of him (3:1).
Similarly, Christ’s presence can elude us and our encounters with him can be just as intermittent. Like it or not, this is how our faith is tested. We see this in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis. The creatures of Narnia live under the spell of a permanent winter, while Aslan, their Lion Lord, comes and goes but never stays. Mr. and Mrs. Beaver, however, never give up hope that one day he will return and put things right: “When he bares his teeth, winter meets its death. And when he shakes his mane, we shall have spring again,” Mr. Beaver said.
Our faith may be severely tested. It may feel like permanent winter. Then, Jesus comes and brings the joy of spring again.
Apply
How will you look for God’s presence today? Every time you notice it, put your hand on your heart and thank him.
Closing prayer
Lord, I want to see You with me and at work in Your world today so I can joyfully celebrate Your goodness.
Click here to sign up to receive the EXTRAs via email each quarter.
© 2024 Scripture Union U.S.A. All rights reserved. Reproduction of the whole or any part of the contents without written permission is prohibited.
Discovery is published in the USA under license from Scripture Union England and Wales, Trinity House, Opal Court, Opal Drive, Fox Milne, Milton Keynes, MK15 0DF.