WordLive - Year OneSample

Prepare: Think about the closest relationships in your life. Where do (or should) the boundaries exist?

Welcomed in
The beloved is at home, and the lover comes calling (v 8), but he is not allowed in. Instead, he is left peering through the lattice (v 9). Here is a relationship with specific limits on how far to go.

By the beginning of chapter 3 the woman is ready to respond to the lover. Look at the sense of movement in verses 1–4: she goes out searching for him (v 2); she brings him to her mother’s house (v 4); to the most private rooms. This is in every sense a welcoming into the family, tantamount to a proposal.

Beneficial boundaries
And yet, in the next verse she tells us not to stir up passion until we are ready to deal with it (v 5), no doubt anticipating the intimacy which will be fully possible only on her wedding day. Verses 6–11 seem to portray the wedding procession as the language parallels other ancient records, and in the following verses the man calls her his ‘bride’ six times (4:8–12; 5:1).

As a human love story, note how the relationship is handled: what is permitted, and what isn’t, at which stage. All relationships, not just romantic ones, can benefit from boundaries of some sort.

Respond: When the beloved finds her lover, she brings him into the innermost places, the place of her birth. Where is God allowed in our lives? Are there places with a ‘keep out’ sign?

http://www.wordlive.org/Session/Classic/2012-11-27