COME AWAY WITH ME

Come Away with Me

Picture this:
A young girl in a garden — innocent and naive.
She’s beautiful but she doesn’t know it.
She has charms that she’s never used.
She’s just a simple girl – unnoticed by most –
Working in a garden, tending to the grapes.

The King discovers her there.
He sees in her what the others do not see.
He sees in her what she herself does not see:
A rose among thorns.  One of a kind.
Out of all the others, He wants her.
He pursues her.  He woos her.
He entreats her, “Rise up from the life that you know
And come away with Me.”

Picture this:
A girl in the dirt — tear-streaked smudges on her face.
She’s a failure and she knows it.
She’s used her charms in every way she knew how.
She manipulates and works the system.
She’s a woman with experience – a woman of the world.

The King discovers her in front of a mob,
Her secrets exposed to everyone.
He sees what the others and she herself does not see:
A “yes” in her heart – a desire for a better life.
She is a failure but He still wants her.
He entreats her, “Get up from the dirt. 
Leave behind your old life and your old ways
And come away with Me.”

Copyright © 9/12/10 by Kendra Lane Barrow.  All rights reserved.
********************************************
For the girl in the garden…

Song of Solomon 1:6 (New International Version)
[The Young Woman]
 6 … My [brothers] were angry with me
       and made me take care of the vineyards…

Song of Solomon 4:7, 9 (New Living Translation)
[The King]
 7 You are altogether beautiful, my darling,
      beautiful in every way.

 9 You have captured my heart,
      my treasure,  my bride.
   You hold it hostage with one glance of your eyes…


Song of Solomon 2:1-2, 10 (Amplified Bible)
 1[SHE SAID] I am only a little rose or autumn crocus of the plain of Sharon, or a [humble] lily of the valleys [that grows in deep and difficult places].
    2But Solomon replied, Like the lily among thorns, so are you, my love, among the daughters.
[The Young Woman]
10My beloved speaks and says to me, Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away.

*************
For the girl in the dirt…

John 8:1-11 (New International Version)
   1But Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. 2At dawn he appeared again in the temple courts, where all the people gathered around him, and he sat down to teach them. 3The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before the group 4and said to Jesus, "Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. 5In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?" 6They were using this question as a trap, in order to have a basis for accusing him.
    But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger. 7When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, "If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her." 8Again he stooped down and wrote on the ground.
    9At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing there. 10Jesus straightened up and asked her, "Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?"
    11"No one, sir," she said.
      "Then neither do I condemn you," Jesus declared. "Go now and leave your life of sin."

INTRODUCTION TO THE SONG OF ALL SONGS

When I was a little girl, I was an avid reader with a vivid imagination and a head full of dreams for my future.  My favorite kinds of books contained adventure, mystery, and romance.  I loved the romantic fairytales because they usually combined all three.  The prince, or the King, would discover a young woman that he desired more than any other.  Even if she were poor and clothed in rags, he would see her value.  He would overcome great obstacles to rescue her and claim her as his own.  They would fall in love; they would marry; they would live happily ever after.  What little girl doesn’t want that fairytale to happen to her?

Fast-forward twenty years:  I was a young woman, divorced, no career, no children, no home, and not even a car.  I was not living the life of my dreams.  Happily ever after seemed like a cruel joke.

It was this jaded and disappointed young woman who “returned to the Lord” as I described in the last chapter and began to experience restoration.  Could God restore my dreams of romance as well?  I wasn’t sure.  Then I discovered a story in the Bible: of great adventure, mystery upon mystery, and true romance. 

Growing up in a church, I was familiar with the passages in Revelation describing the Church – all the followers of Jesus – as the Bride of Christ.  I’d read John 3:29, where John the Baptist describes himself as a friend of the bridegroom, referring to Jesus as the bridegroom.  Honestly, I had thought that imagery was found in only a few isolated passages.  But after I listened to some teachings on the Sacred Romance -- Jesus Christ as the Bridegroom and His church as the Bride of Christ -- I began finding this theme throughout the whole Bible.  For example, Hosea 2:16 (New International Version) says, "In that day," declares the LORD, "you will call me 'my husband'; you will no longer call me 'my master.'”  And Isaiah 62:5 (New Living Translation) describes, “Then God will rejoice over you as a bridegroom rejoices over his bride.”

I recognize that it is very difficult to wrap your brain around this concept — especially if it is unfamiliar to you.  As I studied Scriptures related to this concept, I had some deep and intimate revelation about how Jesus loves me and how I was created to love Him.  The more I understood this on a personal level, the easier it was for me to understand it on the grander scale of Jesus loving His Church, the Bride of Christ.

This book can’t address all the layers of the Sacred Romance story, but I’ve included a few devotionals on the topic in hopes it will whet your appetite for more understanding.  The story of the Sacred Romance is not just a story — it’s real!  No matter who you are or where you’ve been, He wants you.  He will pursue you and wants you for His very own.  At the heart of the greatest story ever told is a song.  You can find the “Song of All Songs” in Song of Solomon 6:3 (New King James Version), “I am my beloved’s and my beloved is mine.”  

Copyright © 12/2010 by Kendra Lane Barrow.  All rights reserved