Be careful with love

Song of Solomon 8:4-7 TNIV

Daughters of Jerusalem, I charge you:

Do not arouse or awaken love

until it so desires.

Who is this coming up from the wilderness

leaning on her beloved?

Under the apple tree I roused you;

there your mother conceived you,

there she who was in labor gave you birth.

Place me like a seal over your heart,

like a seal on your arm;

for love is as strong as death,

its jealousy unyielding as the grave.

It burns like blazing fire,

like a mighty flame.

Many waters cannot quench love;

rivers cannot sweep it away.

If one were to give

all the wealth of one’s house for love,

it would be utterly scorned.

My thoughts -

Song of Solomon. Wow. I never thought I'd try to blog this one. This is one of those books that has always given me something of an "approach with caution" kind of vibe. But then this passage just jumped out and slapped me across the face. I must engage it.

I'm not going to deal with the book as a whole. That's dangerous territory. Why is this book part of our cannon? Is it allegory? Is it just a tale of two young lovers? Can we read God's love for His chosen people into it? Can we read Jesus and his relationship to the church into it? These are questions for smarter people than me.

But this passage, what to make of it? First we read something of a warning.

"Daughters of Jerusalem, I charge you: Do not arouse or awaken love until it so desires."

This thing, love, is a powerful thing. Approach it with caution. If you're not careful it can consume you.

"For love is as strong as death, its jealousy unyielding as the grave. It burns like blazing fire, like a mighty flame. Many waters cannot quench love; rivers cannot sweep it away."

It is stronger than death and the grave. There's no going back after death. The grave doesn't give things back to us, it only takes. There is a mystery to death, but a powerful, all consuming one. Death is a road we all must travel and may be nothing to fear and yet we approach with caution and respect. There is no ignoring the power of death.

And so it is with love. The author here (probably not Solomon but that's for minds far greater than mine to debate) cautions us against love. Or at least offers that love's power needs to be respected. Love is not some idle fancy. It is a fire that won't stop burning. A thirst that can't be quenched. It has a grip that is tighter than the grave and it has as much power as death, maybe more.

We use the word love so lightly. We are always falling in and out of love. We love bacon cheeseburgers and women and men with an equal consumption driven mentality. Here we see love as the consumer, not the consumed. Here we see love as no flighty, trivial thing. Here we see love as powerful, and worth more than all we will ever have.

"If one were to give all the wealth of one’s house for love, it would be utterly scorned."

If you gave everything you own for love, the scales are still balanced towards love. It would not be a fair bargain. Love is worth more by far.

Do not enter lightly into love. It is a powerful thing whose power you can't understand or master. It is a fire that will not stop burning. It is worth more than all you will ever have. It has a grip on you tighter than that of death. Once you love you cannot unlove. Once its grip gets a hold on you it will never let go.

Love is not a bad thing. Quite the opposite. But it has a power we need to respect.