My morning journey towards deeper love started with this verse in 2nd Timothy:
"Meditate on Jesus, the Messiah, who was raised from the dead and is a descendant of David." - II Tim. 2:8 (International Standard Version)As I often do, I started looking up key words in original language to see what I might uncover. What I found was not something new at all, but something I just hadn't thought about before. The King James Version says Jesus is of the "seed of David". I have looked up the meaning of the name David before, but just had never thought about it in this context. The name means "love" - and clearly Jesus' very essence, the seed from which He comes, is LOVE. We see it throughout the account of His life, and we see it in our own lives as we draw closer to Him.
I then found myself reading in Hosea where a couple of verses really stood out to me:
"'It will come about at that time', declares the Lord, 'that you will address me as 'My husband,' and you will no longer call me 'My master''." Hosea 2:16What a beautiful thing!!!! A promise that we will move from a picture of God as this powerful being that we must obey 'or else', to seeing Him as lover, protector, friend! How amazing is that? I am very grateful that in the midst of a society where love is fleeting and marriage so often ends in divorce, I have been blessed with a husband who truly loves me and wants what is best for me. This helps me understand the relationship that God wants to have with me. I know my husband's amazing love is only a shadow of what God's love is like!
Continuing on, the next verse reads:
"I will remove the names of the Baals from her vocabulary - they will not be remembered by their names anymore." Hosea 2:17What a picture this gives me! Personally, I have really struggled with that "Thou shalt have no other Gods before me" commandment. I WANT to put God first, but too often the "desires of the flesh" get in my way. For me it is often about food, and my lack of self-discipline in that area has resulted in increased weight and health issues that are troublesome to say the least! What a promise this verse is for me! God will not only take away my desires for these "other gods" but I won't even remember them!!!
As I think about this verse, I see that as I come to understand and accept God's love for me and allow it to permeate my being - as I really come to see him as my lover, my protector, and my friend - my HUSBAND! - the "infatuations" I've had about other 'gods' are clearly seen for the fakes that they are. Their tarnished images hold NO appeal any more as I now have the genuine thing! What an amazing promise! What an amazing way to live!
Father, I NEED this experience in my life. This clearly is what saves me from the death that my infatuation with food leads me towards. Thank you for giving me a loving husband who helps me understand something of your love for me. I look forward to getting to know you even better as I move from calling YOU "master" to calling YOU "husband"! That is such an amazing concept! And no, it doesn't feel the least incestuous, even though I call you Father. I realize that part of what I've needed in a relationship with you is part of what many women find in their husbands - a "father figure" and I think of how often a partner refers to their spouse as "Baby" as a term of endearment. That protective caring "fatherly" love is just one part of a loving husband, though. As long as I relate to you only as "my Father" or "my Master" I am missing out on SO much in my relationship with you. I look forward to continuing our courtship and the memory of any other "gods" being entirely removed as I come to better understand and accept your love for me. Thank you, Father, for your words to me:
"I will make you my wife forever - I will make you my wife in a way that is righteous, in a manner that is just, by a love that is gracious, and by a motive that is mercy. I will make you my wife because of my faithfulness, and you will know the Lord." Hosea 2:19 & 20.
