Ravished part 2
We saw yesterday--in Proverbs 5:19--that we are to be ravished always with love. And when I looked that word up in Strong's Hebrew Concordance I got a little bit of a surprise. Because it is number 7686 and it means, "to stray, to mistake, to transgress; by extension to reel, be enraptured." And I think that last part is the important part. Because God's love is no mistake. And it does not cause us to stray from the path. God's love IS the path! Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. The way to love, the truth about love, and the life of love! And can I just say this: I think if there's any case to be made about any sort of rapture... it HAS to be about being enraptured by love! Our inheritance is this earth. We have been made kings and priest to rule and reign on this earth. Its not about some sweet by and by pie in the sky. Its about here and now. Because its about life. Jesus came that we might have life, and have it more abundantly. And, listen, I'm not saying there isn't an afterlife. I'm simply saying we oughta enjoy this life that we have first. We oughta let God love us to the point that we are reeling. Almost drunk on it, if I can say it that way. And I think Acts 2:15 backs me up on that, "For these are not drunken, as ye suppose, seeing it is but the third hour of the day." Drunk yes. But not as y'all suppose. Ravished by love. Reeling by the goodness of His love. Enraptured by it. Completely wrapped up in it to the point where nothing else matters. Now let's add Song of Solomon 4:9 to the mix. "Thou hast ravished my heart, my sister, my spouse; thou hast ravished my heart with one of thine eyes, with one chain of thy neck." I'm going to get to the eye in a minute, but that phrase "thou hast ravished my heart" is number 3823 in Strong's Hebrew Concordance (sorry for all the definitions today, but I think its important), and it means, "to be enclosed." Or, "transport." So let me say it this way: "For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night" (1 Thessalonians 5:2). Jesus has stolen our hearts. Transported us. Transformed us. CONFORMED us into His very own image. As He is, so are we in this world. And He did it, the King James Version says, "...with one of thine eyes..." The NLT puts it like this, "You have captured my heart, my treasure, my bride. You hold it hostage with one glance of your eyes, with a single jewel of your necklace." One glance of His eyes. (And, yes, I know it says "my bride." But the whole point of the Song of Solomon is that two become one. We are the bride, the church, but it goes both ways.) Now watch this: One glance is His eyes kidnaps our heart because there is grace in His eyes! That's where Noah found it. And that's where we find it. When we are face to face--looking in the mirror with an unveiled face--with our Beloved... that's when we see His love. And its not just FOR us, its IN us. Because HE is not just for us, HE is in us. He IS us. We are in Christ because Christ is in us. We are in love because love is in us. And it just takes one glimpse of that love to ravish us. To wrap us up and wisk us away. And I think that's were I'm going to pick this up tomorrow. With the idea of getting away from it all and focusing fully and completely on the one thing that matters above all else: LOVE!