Loved

Love.

We do not understand this word.  Proverbs 5:18-20 is a very interesting section scripture.  It is very sexual in its nature.  It tells men to take delight in their wife and rejoice in her love and exhilarated by her breasts.  Again, to some this may see a rather crude and unnecessary passage, especially to talk about with friends and strangers.  Vs 20 asks the reason for the sons of man the logic behind feeling up a stranger when you have such a joy at home waiting for.  Vs 19 says “As a loving hind (deer) and a graceful doe, Let her breasts satisfy you at all times; Be exhilarated always with her love.”  Being the 22 year old male that I am, the first thing that comes to my mind is sex…God is telling us to take physical pleasure in our wives and to take pure carnal satisfaction in her body and person.  God created sex to be beautiful and he is telling us here to keep our joy within our wife and our wife only.

I have read this scripture before and naturally only noticed it because of its obvious sexual nature.  Well this week when I re-read it, I got something more.

First, I saw the passage beyond the physical nature of the images.  This is God talking about the beauty of the relationship between a man and women.  The complete fullness of the love that is unwritten in these verses struck me.  God made man as relational creatures.  He made us to be together.  In Genesis 2:22, God created women of man and thus they will leave the families to become one in flesh (sex).  But a funny thing happens when you are connected in flesh (so I have been told), you become connected emotionally and mentally as well.  Vs 25 says Adam and Eve were naked and were not ashamed.  In the book “Looking for God Knows What”, the author explained things like this:  The were unashamed because they were loved.  Why do you think people love to be loved?  If someone loves them, then they feel they can be justified in themselves.  And guess why they need that confirmation?

Beyond my desire for my own earthly relationship, I got an insight into the relationship that matters.  Man was unashamed of their nakedness because God loved them.  Think of the grandest scale of a boy telling a girl that she is pretty.  For that girl, nothing else matters because her lover says she is okay.  She feels free to do whatever and live without inhibitions because there is only one opinion that matters.  Now put yourself in Adam and Eve’s shoes.  If the creator of the Universe said “You are perfect and loved”…are you going to have any insecurities?  NO.  The reason people play games, dunk, have awards is so others can tell them how good they are.  When we sinned we lost that perfect love and we have thus been trying to fill that whole with the insignificant approval of men.

God refers to himself as the bride groom and the Church (us) as the bride.  The earthly marriages that we are in are made to model this bigger relationship.  In the same way that we are to only find satisfaction with our wife’s breast, we are only to find confirmation and value in our Heavenly lover. 

Men…love your God and love your wife in the same manner.  Rejoice in your wife alone…physically, emotionally, mentally.  Rejoice in your Loving Redeemer alone…soully…that means everything in your being.

You are loved.