I Am My Beloved's, My Beloved is Mine

Intimacy is something we all seek. That experience of knowing and being known. This may sound outdated; but to belong to someone.

It is easy to agree with the above statement, but maybe very hard to understand it, in all the fullness of its meaning. There's implications.

Take for instance, the notion of the Church as the bride of Christ. For a guy like me, this seemed a little bit odd. Jesus as my bridegroom. Hmmm.

I mean, I was the seeker, the initiator. Problem is, I stopped with physical intimacy. So I rode the merry-go-round. With each new love would come the initial euphoria of discovery.

But always, at some point, the newness wore off and I would begin to take note of the flaws (never mind my own), to be annoyed by them, and finally to resent the person so marred by them.

Seek and you shall find, it is said. Sometimes, the best things seek us out. God is all-wise and He knows what is best for us even when we don't.

So He sought me out. I did not want Him. He wanted me though.

I once told a friend that I was fond of my wife, but I didn't love her. That, as it turns out was a lie, told to provoke his reaction.

Here's the thing I've found about marriage. God made it and gave it to men and women. To fill the earth, to provide the basic unit of human society. But it's something better than that.

In heaven, we will know as we are known. Perfect knowledge. Perfect intimacy. So I think that marriage is God's gift to us. Our foretaste of heaven.

Jesus loves me with a perfect, self-sacrificing love. We cannot love that perfectly (not yet). But the intent of the heart, to love another person more than you love yourself, to give all you have for their happiness. And to be loved that way in return.

Meanwhile, I take joy in the love of another and loving her in return. I look forward to the day when that love will be perfected in Christ.

Happy Valentine's Day