DCLM Daily Manna 2025: DCLM Daily Manna 22 February 2025: Expression of True Love
Text: Song Of Solomon 1:9-17 (KJV)
9 I have compared thee, O my love, to a company of horses in Pharaoh’s chariots.
10 Thy cheeks are comely with rows of jewels, thy neck with chains of gold.
11 We will make thee borders of gold with studs of silver.
12 While the king sitteth at his table, my spikenard sendeth forth the smell thereof.
13 A bundle of myrrh is my wellbeloved unto me; he shall lie all night betwixt my breasts.
14 My beloved is unto me as a cluster of camphire in the vineyards of Engedi.
15 Behold, thou art fair, my love; behold, thou art fair; thou hast doves’ eyes.
16 Behold, thou art fair, my beloved, yea, pleasant: also our bed is green.
17 The beams of our house are cedar, and our rafters* of fir.
KEY VERSE: Song of Solomon 1:15
“Behold, thou art fair, my love; behold, thou art fair; thou hast doves’ eyes.”
A story of an enduring love is told about a couple in New York City around 1946. Jack and Phyllis had been separated during World War 2, yet they eventually exchanged marital vows after the war, showcasing a love that endured distance and hardship. Their story shows the enduring nature of true love as seen in the commitment and devotion of the couple despite challenging circumstances.
In this text, the shepherd pours out a voluminous expression of his adoring love upon the Shulamite. “Thy cheeks are comely with rows of jewels…” The Shulamite reciprocates by comparing her love adoringly to the sweet odour of spikenard. She extols the shepherd’s love as a bundle of myrrh as she lies on her bed in the night.
Our Lord’s love for His own aptly amplifies and profoundly illustrates a higher kind of love. Christ’s pure love is like an ever-flowing river whose water invigorates the soul of the receiver. The believer who receives of such exciting love always reciprocates such love with an outpouring of worship and adoration for Christ. How we ought to constantly reciprocate Christ’s love through our unceasing adoration in secret closets, while also proclaiming such love openly before the ignorant world. It is when we make the love of Christ known that multitudes will flock to Him for salvation.
Christ’s sacrificial love for you surpasses human expression. He said: “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends” (John 15:13). You owe it a duty to do His will even when it hurts or inconveniences you. Christ suffered untold pains and experienced death to pay for your redemption. No height or depth of consecration must be too much for you in expressing your love for this ‘beloved and pleasant’ Shepherd of your soul. Addict yourself to doing Christ’s will. That is the true mark of your love for Him.
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY:
He loves best who buries his will in his Master’s will.
THE BIBLE IN ONE YEAR:
Luke 13-16
Daily Manna 22 February 2025
