"O daughters of Jerusalem, I charge you - if you find my lover, what will you tell him? Tell him I am faint with love."
Song. 5:8

How do you respond to criticism, ridicule and sometimes public shame? Does your human nature take control and seek vidication, retribution and recompense? How did the Lord Jesus deal with His persecutors, tormentors and murderers?

In light of the above scriptural reference, it is interesting to note the beloved’s response to her tormentors. The Song of Solomon depicts, or is a shadow of, the love relationship between Christ and His bride, the Church. There is mutual pursuit of a love affair between the Lover (Christ) and His beloved (Church).

At one time in the progressive love affair, the beloved didn’t respond as quickly as she should have and the Lover withdrew His presence for a time. In the beloved’s pursuit of her Lover, she was confronted by the watchmen. Now the watchmen depict those who supposedly are there to protect and care for your safety and well being such as a pastor or elder. The confrontation resulted in her being beaten, bruised and disrobed; but what was her response?

The beloved’s focus was so passionate and intense that her only charge to her friends who were helping her in her quest was to tell her Lover that she was, “faint with love.” There was no mention of what the watchmen had just done to her nor did she ask her Lover to take vindication for her being shamed. But, rather, her charge was to express her single minded focus of love and desire for unity with her Lord.

In like fasion, the Lord Jesus, after His resurrection, made no mention or inference of retaliation for His crucifixion. His focus was the joy of reunion with His Father and the redemption of His bride that pulled Him through His trial (Heb. 12:2). Nowhere in the Gospels or Epistles will you find any mention of Jesus commenting on His ill treatment at the hands of His murderers.

Can we come to this same spirit that reviles not when reviled? Can our focus be so enraptured with our quest of discovering Christ in us that we take no thought when crucified by fellow Christians? Our only hope is to be captured by the Lord.

“CAPTIVATED”

Captiviate by His smile,
Captivated all the while.

Captivated by His touch,
Captivated more than much.

Captivated by His voice,
Captivated till there’s no other choice.

Captivated by His charm,
Captivated as we walk arm in arm.

Captivated by His life,
Captivated to become His wife.

Captivated to live above,
Captivated by His perfect love.

written by Richard Waters