A love gone cold?

Yet I hold this against you:

You have forsaken the love you had at first...

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Song 5:9 NKJV

What is your beloved more than another beloved, O fairest of women? What is your beloved more than another, that you so charge us?

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I've been trying to answer this question at a personal level for the past three weeks or so...trying to put words together and tell of just how much God means to me...why I wouldn't trade Him for another or liken Him to any other in my life. 

It's taken so long because of the realization that there were actually 'other beloveds' ~ everything that in one way or the other has been distracting me from fellowship with God... Everything that takes up the time I would so gladly spend in His Presence... Everything that I take more pleasure in when He should be the One I delight myself in the most... Everything that is a threat to the Trust that has taken so long to establish between us... Those little foxes that cunningly ruin the vineyard just when it's time to bloom... Those little creatures that subtly bring in sloth, complacency, lethargy and self-indulgence in my walk with God... Those that God specifically warned us about in the very first commandment where He says:

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Exodus 20:2-3 NIV

"I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of slavery, out of the land of slavery. You shall have no other gods before me."

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Funny how easily we miss this - how quickly we put other things before: loved ones, relationships, self (our comforts, convenience, appetites, desires), financial prosperity, gifts, ministry...it goes on and on. It happens so subtly that it's almost impossible to take notice of when these things become idols in our hearts. The moment we value anything else besides God, even ourselves, it compromises on our commitment and obedience to God. 

Truth be told, it takes a lot to be diligent and consistent in our walk with God. One time you're very energetic...you have those early morning devotions, show up in the place of prayer, in reading the Word, and doing those little things that please the Father. Next thing you know you don't even have the strength to throw away those blankets early enough to have ample time to fellowship with Him. You no longer find pleasure in serving as it was before and are numb to the awareness of His love and His Presence all around you. You no longer talk about Him before others with as much zeal and passion as you did before. 

I've been down that road a couple of times, so I know how sickening that numbness is. I'm learning just now that Love is as a flame of fire ~ a most vehement flame (Song 8:6). What if the real problem is that in such moments of complacency is that there's been a compromise on our Love for God? When that flame is put out, what's left is a love that's gone cold...a heart that's lukewarm...a candle that's without light...salt that has lost its saltiness. 

Such a heart is slow to respond to the promptings of the Holy Spirit, reluctant in obeying His convictions and quick to place its own selfish desires above God's. That's exactly what happened to the Shulamite in Song 5:1-7...and is exactly what's likely to happen to anyone whose love for their Beloved has been compromised...when He has ceased being 'more' than all other beloveds. 

That's a dangerous spot to be in if you ask me. There could be dire consequences. The Shulamite ended up bruised, beaten and robbed as she set out to seek her Lover...all to no avail. It's only after she re-evaluates her priorities in the face of the beauty and splendor of her Lover that her love is rekindled (to be discussed at length in the next blog). 

I believe this is a call to us all (I'm very much included in this) to re-evaluate ourselves...to get rid of anything that stands in the way of our intimate fellowship with God...to unravel those 'little gods' in our lives that are standing before Him...to present ourselves to God in all humility and allow Him to strip us of all such things. Most of all, that He would impart in us once again that hot fiery love...that we would again serve and obey Him with utmost zeal, passion and commitment. 

Lord, set my heart ablaze with your love. Let my love for You be as a flame of fire...one so vehement that even the most outrageous of floods would not quench it. I want to burn for You!