To the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved.
Ephesians 1:6*
Falling in love is a beautiful experience. It’s an exhilarating departure from the commonplace and logical into the excitement of emotional highs and the thrill of reaching out to touch someone. Besides, it’s a lot of fun. The marvel of being in love is only surpassed by the wonder of being loved by another.
Apart from being the lover of our souls and the ultimate standard by which all love is measured, Christ is the object of our love – the recipient of our devotion and desire. “We love Him because He first loved us” (1 John 4:19). We are our Beloved’s and our Beloved is ours. (Song of Solomon 6:3).
Although Christ may not need our love, He wants it and desires it as earnestly as any husband would from his wife. He is jealous and disappointed when other things crowd Him out.
Some people think that they honor Christ by putting Him first in their lives. But that isn’t what He wants at all. It would be like me coming home and telling my wife, “Carol, you’re number one for me, but Alice is number two, Susan is number three and Mary is number four.” She wouldn’t be happy until all the competition for affection was gone.
When Christ is truly our “Beloved,” He will not just be first in our lives; He will be only.
*See also Matthew 12:18; Song of Solomon 1:16, 2:10, 8:14 plus 25 other times in the book.
June 24