“There are three things that are too amazing for me, four that I do not understand: …the way of a man with a maid…”
Even King Solomon in all his wisdom finds the demeanor of a man with a maid a mystery; Oh! God knows the things a boy does to impress a girl, most especially the one he has a crush on! Isn’t God’s love towards us similar? He has done so many things to bring us into His courts, so many things that we don’t deserve – Great is His fondness for us!
God’s vast ocean; His love for us
God’s love is like an ocean; we are all sinking in its depth, like a storm; we are trapped in its eye, like a blazing wildfire; burning in our heart, vast and eternal; we can’t run out of it and neither can we outrun it! Whenever it seems we are drowning in His ocean of love, then and right there we thrive, like a ship in the midst of the sea in all its splendor, nudged by the waves of God’s love in the direction of the lighthouse- we are drawn to redemption through the eyes of His grace as the arresting lantern of a light house draws a wandering ship to shore. God’s love towards us is vast, but not intimidating, it is arresting, but not imprisoning, many ways like His Ocean: vast, beautiful, powerful and dangerous, but in no way does it seek to swallow us up or bully us to the shores of redemption. God’s love is firm but gentle, ever present, all around us but non-invasive, captivates, and burns into our heart only if we permit!
Such is the way of a man who has find a maid, he beckons day and night calling out to his beloved; His church, to launch into the deep ocean of His love, to cast away the fear of the deep, for in His ocean of love, if we sink, it is then we thrive!
There is no thrill in swimming or fishing in shallow waters; no thrill wallowing in shallow Christianity, we can only comprehend the whole depth of God’s love for us when we plunge into the deep! Christianity is a call to the deep, but if we continue crisscrossing the shallow part of His ocean of love, we will continue to struggle in our relationship with God and we may never be able to comprehend what is the width and length and depth and height or truly know the extent of the love of God which surpasses all understanding.
Beyond the veil – you may kiss the bride
The stern reputation of ‘the walk down the aisle’ as one of the lengthiest walk a girl would take her whole life is much more in the psychology of the moment rather than the actual length of this short walk. The sheer expectation and anticipation of that minute when all protocols, vows and rites are completed, and the magical moment when the priest declares: “you may now kiss the bride”, altogether play a vital role in exaggerating the length of the walk down the aisle! However, before the ‘you may kiss the bride’ fairy-tale moment would become a reality, the veil first must be removed. The veil must be lifted off the bride’s face so that for the first time before the altar, the man and his maid will see each other face to face just like Moses spoke to God face to face! This marks the moment the husband and the wife become one as the bride beholds her groom and the groom beholds his bride beyond the veil! In similar manner the love of Christ brings us to that same altar, unveils our face inviting us to launch deeper in His Ocean of love, and as we behold Christ beyond the veil we are transformed into that same image of Christ from glory to glory! We stand as one with Him and we stand no longer inferior in His presence, we catch a glimpse of His glory and we reflect it as a mirror reflects a ray of light with an undiluted intensity.
Some however do see God only through the veil, the veil of church, the veil of the Pastor, or veil of sin because we lack that in-depth personal relationship or spiritual romance with the lover of our soul. Even though we have yielded Christ’s invitation to the altar, the veil has not been removed, we are deprived of that first kiss, so we only see God and relate with Him through church services and other people’s testimony about Him! But God is not interested in what other people including your church pastor have to say about Him – your lord and lover; He only yearns for your testimony about who He is to you! Other people may have introduced you to God but as in the case of Peter the comprehension and understanding of the whole volume of God and His vast love towards us can only be revealed by God Himself, you will have to come beyond every veil and stand in His presence without an iota of inferiority for the whole essence of His saving grace is that we may be able to stand before our Lord, our lover and our bridegroom without any sense of inferiority!
Take a dive into His vast Ocean
Except we lunch deeper and gaze beyond the veil, Christianity will be lived in the shallow parts of His ocean of love and we may never really know or experience the extent of the bridegroom’s love for us, the one who loved and died for us. Most of us today wallow in the shallow rivers of Christianity; we kiss the bridegroom with the veil on; we are very close to the real thing yet very far from it. We have come to rely on what other people say about our God, our lover! Even sometimes we make our own version of God’s ocean in our backyard in form of the swimming pool, and we crisscross this all time believing it is the same as God’s ocean deep; but it lacks the thrills, the waves, the depth, the height, the beauty and the vastness the true ocean of His love provides!
Friends, let us launch into the deep ocean of His love as there is no thrill in shallow Christianity. We must desire to know God like we would our spouse, lover or friend. Isn’t this the maturity Paul inferred when he remarked: “all that I know now is partial and incomplete, but then I will know everything (about God) completely, just as God now knows me completely”.
Take a dive, launch deep; God’s love for you is ocean deep!
