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Key Text – Hosea 2: 2-13 (KJV)
V2-Plead with your mother, plead: for she is not my wife, neither am I her husband: let her therefore put away her whoredoms out of her sight, and her adulteries from between her breasts;
V3- Lest I strip her naked, and set her as in the day she was born, and make her as a wilderness, and set her like a dry land, and slay her with thirst.
V4-And I will not have mercy upon her children; for they be the children of whoredom.
V5-For their mother hath played the harlot: she that conceived them hath done shamefully; for she said, I will go after my lovers, that give me my bread and my water, my wool and my flax, mine oil and my drink.
V6- Therefore, behold, I will hedge up thy ways with thorns, and make a wall, that she shall not find her paths.
V7-And she shall follow after her lovers, but she shall not overtake them; and she shall seek them, but shall not find them: then shall she say, I will go and return to my first husband; for then was it better with me than now.
V8- For she did not know that I gave her corn, and wine, and oil, and multiplied her silver and gold, which they prepared for Baal.
V9-Therefore will I return, and take away my corn in the time thereof, and my wine in the season thereof, and will recover my wool and my flax given to cover her nakedness.
V10-And now will I discover her lewdness in the sight of her lovers, and none shall deliver her out of mine hand.
V11-I will also cause all her mirth to cease, her feast days, her new moon, and her Sabbaths, and all her solemn feasts.
V12- And I will destroy her vines and her fig trees, whereof she hath said, These are my rewards that my lovers have given me: and I will make them a forest and the beasts of the field shall eat them.
V13-And I will visit upon her the days of Baalim, where she burned incense to them, and she decked herself with her earrings and her jewels, and she went after her lovers, and forgat me, saith the Lord.
Man is a creature of strong affection. His feelings cling round the objects of his choice like ivy round a tree. Through sin, these affections are misplaced. He loves the things which he should hate and hate the things which he should love. He forsakes the true God and pursues lovers of his own. He must love, he will worship something. Thus men are seeking happiness where it cannot be found: committing two evils, forsaking the fountain of living waters and hewing out cisterns for themselves, broken cisterns which hold no water.
Our key text is about this woman by the name of Gomer. She is the wife of prophet Hosea. She is a prostitute. This scandalous marriage is commanded by God to be used as a metaphor of God’s marriage to us despite our propensity for spiritual adultery, going after the wrong lovers of life, other than our own legitimate LOVER and HUSBAND, Jesus Christ.
Yes! In this life, if we are not properly linked to the Lover of our Soul, Jesus Christ, then like Gomer, we will be running shamelessly after the wrong lovers to our own disappointment and destruction.
This morning, I would like to share with you the second series in line with our LIFE Evangelistic Sunday – LIFE’S WRONG LOVERS.
(I) The Wrong Lovers
Many Christians have fallen in love with the world rather than falling in love with Christ. Money, success and prosperity have filled our hearts. The love of the world is in our heart and the love for the things in the world is also in our heart. Today Jesus is standing at the door of the hearts of all Christians, knocking and asking to be let in. He wants to take his rightful place. He wants to drive away all the wrong lovers in the hearts of His children.
Illustration
There is a true story told about a lady by the name of Margaret. During the World War, many young Germans were forced to join the army to fight for their country. There was a young lady called Margaret who had just been married to this handsome young soldier. Unfortunately, shortly after their marriage he had to leave for the battlefield. In great sadness he wept over his new bride Margaret and kissed her a hundred times. He said, “Bye bye” to her and left for the war. He dearly wanted to come back to his beautiful bride, Margaret.
Unfortunately, he was sent to the front lines and was captured almost immediately by the Russian army. He thus became a Russian prisoner of war and was sent to work in the camps. In the prison, he prayed constantly that he would be released so that he could go back to his beautiful bride, Margaret. Being a prisoner of war was a terrible experience. He suffered very much and was subjected to the hard labor of a prisoner of war. Every day, when he got up, he would think of Margaret! In every step he made during the day, carrying rocks and boulders from place to place; in the cold and in the heat, he thought of only one thing – Margaret. The years went by and Germany lost the war. The prisoners were excited because they hoped to be released alive. One day the commander of the prisoners of war came up with a list of prisoners who were to be released. This young soldier was excited because he thought he would be released. Unfortunately, when the names were read out, his name was not on the list. His hopes were dashed. He was greatly disappointed and his heart sank. He had lost the chance to see Margaret. But the very next week, another list of prisoners to be released was read out by the commander of the prison and this young soldier’s name was on the list.
What a day of rejoicing that was! He could think of only one thing – Margaret! “I am going to see Margaret!” He packed his few belongings and took a train to Germany to see his beloved Margaret. Through every step of that long journey he thought of only one thing – Margaret! When he finally arrived in his town he was shocked to find that almost every building had been bombed and the town he once knew was basically a pile of rubbish. He walked down the street and came to the road where he had lived with Margaret. To his amazement, their house was one of the few still standing. His heart began to beat as he walked up to the door. The moment of truth had come. He knocked on the door and waited in silence, wondering if anybody lived in that house. Suddenly, he heard footsteps, which he recognized. “These are the footsteps of Margaret,” he thought. Suddenly the door opened and there she was, more beautiful than the noonday sun, more splendid than she had looked on her wedding day! The young soldier lifted up his hands and screamed, “Margaret, I am back!” Suddenly, something terrible happened. Margaret slammed the door and locked it. The young soldier was shocked. He began knocking and banging on the door. “Margaret, Margaret, I am your husband. Open the door!” Margaret, Margaret, I am your husband. Open the door!” But she did not open the door. He could not believe what was happening. Why was Margaret not opening the door? The young man who had looked forward to seeing his beautiful bride was now in a state of shock. He stood outside the door knocking and calling for Margaret but she simply did not open the door.
Do you want to know why Margaret did not open the door? I will tell you why. It is the same reason why the church is not opening the door of its heart to Jesus. There was somebody else in the house. There was another lover, a wrong lover in the house. That is why Margaret did not open the door. Another lover had come to live in the house while Margaret’s husband was away at war. Something and someone else was in there and the rightful owner and lover was on the outside begging.
Let us also take a look at the history of Israel, how she fell away from her legitimate husband and lover, Jehovah/Yahweh and embraced another lover called the false gods.
When the Israelites settled among the Canaanite people, they were inexperienced farmers. Remember, they were nomads, wandering in the desert for 40 years, with their herds and flocks. So they learned from the Canannites. In adopting the Canaanite way of life, they observed that the people depended on their gods, particularly Baal, for the life-giving rains, produce of the earth, and reproduction in the herds. “What harm could be done by worshipping Baal along with Yahweh to ensure success and prosperity?” Israel wondered. So they too, erected Baal shrines in their fields. Gradually the people of Israel were enticed into deeper mysteries of the sensual fertility cult with the hope that they could manipulate the gods for productivity. As the years went by, they depended more and more on Baal and less and less on Yahweh. The worship of the Canaanite gods along with Yahweh became firmly entrenched. It gives rise to the so-called sin of syncretism, which is actually the union or attempted fusion of different system of thoughts or beliefs in religion. The problem of syncretism continued throughout Israel’s history.
To pursue and harbor the wrong lovers of this life is to run after the false gods of this life; it is to syncretise; to fuse our real God with false gods and this fusion is condemned by our God, just as He condemns the Baal worship among the children of Israel.
Application
What about this sin of syncretism in our modern-day today? Are we as guilty as Israel to run after the wrong lovers in this life? Do we also worship false god like Israel today? Yes. A false god today that would correspond to Israel’s syncretistic worship of Baal is whatever or whomever we give our allegiance and depend on for our meaning as persons – in addition to God. We can believe in God and at the same time worship at the shrine of power, prosperity, possessions and position. It is possible to need people so much that we seek to draw from them the security and assurance only God can give us. And inordinate concern for our status, success and the trophies of our accomplishments can also expose our competing gods.
E.g.
Recently, a sad young minister and his wife came to David Wilkerson for counseling. After four troubled years of marriage and two children, they were contemplating divorce. She was the saddest-looking wife David Wilkerson has seen in years. Her husband, the young youth minister, stood nearby, while his teary-eyed wife sobbed out her confession to her pastor, “There is absolutely no hope for our marriage now,” she cried. “We are in two different worlds. He is so wrapped up in his work. He has no time left for me and the children. My whole world has been wrapped up in him, but now I am getting tired of sitting home, waiting for him. I’m not accomplishing anything on my own. I don’t even know if I love him anymore.” David Wilkerson recognized the cause of their problem –Both were bored, restless and unhappy with each other. Just as multitudes of other couples, they once stood before a minister, to be married; they were gazing lovingly into each other’s eyes, with their hearts filled with hope and anticipation that their marriage would be happy and fulfilling. Now, just a few years later, their hopes are in ashes.
They became disillusioned and try as they may, they can’t seem to rekindle the spark of first love. It is then that the thought of divorce surface. David Wilkerson then said to the young wife, “What a shame that all your happiness depends only on what your husband does. If he is a good husband, if he treats you the way you think you should be treated, if he spends a little time with you, then you may find a little happiness. But when he lets you down, you have nothing left. Your whole world rises and falls on the actions of your husband. That is why you are so empty.” She nodded affirmatively. David Wilkerson continued, “Young lady, you’re not a whole person. You’re just half a person. You cannot survive if you depend on someone else for your happiness. True women’s liberation means finding your own happiness, in yourself, through God’s power. You must become your own person and quit depending on your husband, or someone else, to make you happy.” In other words, she has to find her own source of happiness through a new relationship with God and not through her husband.
When we syncretise or fuse human love with divine love; the love of our husband with God’s love, we will be in for a big disappointment. It is only from God and God alone that we receive our identity of worth and value. We cannot depend on people or things for our happiness, security and assurance.
The church is not exempt from the subtle and sometimes blatant sin of syncretism. We add to our worship of the Lord our devotion to heritage, traditions, numbers, buildings, programs and popularity. All these can be good things but if they become our passion, they rob us of total dependence on God.
(II) The Dangers
Gomer ran after the wrong lovers and she faced dangers which could also be the dangers confronting us if we run after the wrong lovers of this life. What are the dangers?
1. Expungement
The word “to expunge” is a legal term which means “to erase or “to eliminate.”
V2-Plead with your mother, plead: for she is not my wife, neither am I her husband: let her therefore put away her whoredoms out of her sight, and her adulteries from between her breasts;
Hosea 2 begins with the call to the children to bring CHARGES against their mother, Gomer. The translation of the NKJV is better than the Revised Standard Version’s plead since the Hebrew verb always describes an accusation or confrontation, not just an appeal. The charges against the mother, here primarily Israel, are spelled out in verse 2, “She is not my wife, neither am I her husband”. This is identified as a short DIVORCE formula.
When we embrace wrong lovers in our life, there is a danger of expungement, a deletion or an elimination of God’s covenant with us.
2. Exposure
V3- Lest I strip her naked, and set her as in the day she was born, and make her as a wilderness, and set her like a dry land, and slay her with thirst.
When we embrace the wrong lovers other than God, we will expose ourselves to the danger of nakedness and helplessness.
Look at Israel. She was taken by God when she was weak and few in number; she was trained, fed and clothed by God like a little child; she was married to God and adorned as a bride. But the day she ran after wrong lovers, God stripped her, deprived her of every ornament; deprived her of all the temporary and spiritual blessings as people of God and she was left naked and helpless, a gazing stock to others.
Application
When God ceases to care and provide for a people, withholds the gifts of nature and grace, they will become defiled by sin, cast out and loathsome. Like Adam and Eve, they will lose their innocence and see their nakedness. Divine judgments strip men of natural defense, family honor and leave them “naked unto their shame amongst their enemies” (Exodus 22:25).
Not only that, there is the exposure to want and distress. “Make her as a wilderness, and set her like a dry land, and slay her with thirst” (v3). Incursions and hostilities of the enemy could lay her waste as a wilderness; or put her in great straits and distress, as in the desert when they came out of Egypt. Idolatry desolates the land and brings the devouring sword. She would be like a dry land, destitute of food and maintenance of life. Well-watered gardens become deserts through sin.
E.g.
“Everything that I love” said Napoleon, “everything that belongs to me, is stricken. Heaven and mankind unite to afflict me.” The soul of the sinner is desolate and unfruitful in the ways and works of God. It is devoid of God’s presence and blessing; unrelieved by green pastures and living rills. “Your house is left unto you desolate” are words which describe the doom of all without Christ. Hungry and thirsty, they are not satisfied but perish like a traveler in want. “Slay her with thirst.”
E.g.
Josh McDowell said, “Just like the rest of us, adolescents are created with the need for love, security, intimacy, companionship, affection, spirituality. When these needs go unmet, as they do occasionally for everyone, many young people turn to sex, hoping to fill the void. They confuse sex with love. They think the compatibility of two people is in the pelvis rather than in the head. Insecurity breeds this type of thinking. An insecure person is afraid of losing the person of his or her affections and may see sex as a way to hold on to him. Using sex for manipulation and control is also typical of insecure people. Low self-esteem may drive teenagers to gain approval through sex rather than through acceptance of the truth that they are persons of worth because God says so.” Josh McDowell continues to tell the story of a girl: “It was near Thanksgiving and she was baby-sitting. “Mind if I come over?” Well one thing led to another, and in a strange house on an old beat-up sofa I was no longer a virgin. Virginity gone, innocence gone, the floodgates of immorality were now open and in poured masturbation, prostitutes, marijuana, speed, a couple of acid trips, crabs, and a few bouts with gonorrhea. Love and acceptance were all I was looking for. How could the world be so rotten? I hadn’t found love. I’d found casual sex with all kinds of strings attached. Acceptance? No one really cared. They were too worried about getting burned themselves.”
Just when you thought sex could be your new lover, giving you love, security and acceptance, it leaves you instead with greater distress and thirst.
3. Endangerment
V4-And I will not have mercy upon her children; for they be the children of whoredom.
The endangerment here is referring to endangerment to our children. “I will not have mercy upon her children” – children of whoredom inheriting the nature and suffering from the conduct of their mother. There is no security in sin. The rising generation does not escape. Parents entail a curse upon their offspring. Evil has its consequences. Our endeavor should be to guard ourselves from loving the wrong things in this life above God.
E.g.
Young people have been admonished constantly of their youthful passion by me. I keep reminding the young people that what they do or fail to do now will affect their future especially the future of their children. If they run after the wrong lovers like a guy or sex, then next time their own children will do the same to them, in fact 10 times worse than what they are doing to their very own parents now. There is such a thing where you as a parent endanger your children to a generational curse.
(III) The Pursuit
V5-For their mother hath played the harlot: she that conceived them hath done shamefully; for she said, I will go after my lovers, that give me my bread and my water, my wool and my flax, mine oil and my drink.
V6- Therefore, behold, I will hedge up thy ways with thorns, and make a wall, that she shall not find her paths.
Gomer declares defiantly, “I will go after my lovers” (v5). It is a pursuit with intense anxiety. Instead of lifting our souls to God, man looks to the creature for satisfaction. He “seeks” and “follows after” in eager pursuit of what he loves, labors harder in sin and seeking pleasures than in serving God. He wearies himself in pursuit, aggravated by thorn-hedges and hindrances. The motive of Gomer for the pursuit of her lovers is the gifts or harlot’s wages she received from them. This pay from her lovers includes the staples of life – food and clothing, in the first two pairs and oil for skin care and wine to give her pleasure.
E.g.
We used to have a good-looking member who is from a very poor family. She was quite faithful and committed to our church during the first few years but then like Gomer, she decided to leave her true Lover, Jesus Christ, and run after her lover which is flax and wool – more beautiful clothes for herself. She began to associate with this homosexual who was supplying her with new clothes. Soon, I noticed she started coming to church with make-up on and glamorous attire. It struck my mind- she was so poor, even hardly scrimping enough for her education, where did she get all the money to buy those clothes? At the same time, I witnessed her decline in her commitment to this church and finally she left our church because she already found her lovers who were willing to give her the wages – wine, pleasure and companionship.
But this pursuit is under Divine restraint. Verse 6 mentions that “hedges and walls” would be fixed up by God to restrain this inordinate pursuit of wrong lovers. There are different kinds of divine restraints. Example, God tried to cut off Israel from idolatry by solitude and affliction. God also uses conscience to warn and restraint the sinner. Disappointments in pursuits, pains following pleasures and divine judgment are some other examples God uses to turn men from their idolatrous purpose.
The restraints of God’s providence are merciful in their design so that “she shall not find her paths”. It is given to cause us to withdraw from sinful pursuits. “She shall not overtake them, and she shall seek them, but shall not find them.” It is given to restore men to God. “Then shall she say, I will go and return”. Strong barriers and painful roadblocks are not sufficient. If God did not mercifully interfere we would all go astray. Let us repent of sin, be thankful for correction and appreciate the wondrous grace of God. “Before I was afflicted, I went astray, but now I kept thy word”
E.g.
The pursuit for an overseas education was my wrong lover after I was born again. Though I was rejected by National University of Singapore, I was eligible for one of the Universities in America. But there was the divine restraint. God put all the painful roadblock to my educational pursuit. I couldn’t raise money from my already bankrupt family to go. At that time, I became bitter with God. Now, 29 years have passed and I finally can see that it is by the mercy of God that He restrained me from running after the wrong lover of my life – a tertiary education in USA because to confess to all of you today – if I were to get a degree from USA, I don’t think I would serve God in this extent like today. I also don’t think I would continue to be a born-again Christian after I succeeded in my education. So God knows the evil propensity of our heart and He restrains our idolatrous pursuit because He cares for our soul.
It is a pursuit ending in failure. “She shall not overtake” what she follows; “she shall not find what she seeks.” There will be failure and disappointment after all her eagerness and effort. Egypt and Assyria were trusted in vain. Worldly alliance was of no service for they did not give the anticipated deliverance. Idols were impotent. Gomer was obliged to confess, “It was better with me than now.” The pursuit will end in failure.
E.g.
“Why did the canon balls spare me to die in this manner? I am no longer the great Napoleon. How fallen and disappointed I am!” cried Napoleon in his latter end.
Nothing can take the place of God – nothing can satisfy. The beast may be satisfied with what it finds on earth, for its nature aspires no higher; but man is linked to God, longs for Him and cannot be contented without Him. Though the heart once alienated from Him turns further away and moves not towards Him until renewed, yet even in its wanderings it retains its nature and necessities. Men go here and there, do this and that, in quest of good but all in vain. They faint in mind and fail in hope. God never created man to find rest and happiness in utter rejection of Himself.
The underlying cause of Gomer’s pursuit of wrong lover is her INGRATITUDE. She “did not know” that it was God “who gave her the corn”. She was ignorant of the divine source of her blessing. And because of her ingratitude, God would end the festivals by cutting off the harvest that the festivals celebrate (v13).
Application
It is perilous to confuse what should be our basic conviction that all we have and are or ever hope to be or have is a gift from God. To begin to think we have achieved it ourselves is pride. And yet, how easy it is to use our gifts of intellect and think that our understanding is our accomplishment. We become proud of our talents as if we had acquired them ourselves. The same is true for our accumulation of the accoutrements of success or our opportunities or our privileges. It is also misplaced praise to think of any person, group or institution as the ultimate source of our blessings. An attitude of gratitude can be expressed to others, but it was God who provided these persons and decided to use them as His agents in our lives. When we say to a person, “Thank you for all you mean to me,” the deeper implication should be, “I thank God for using you so effectively in my life.” In the same way we can be grateful for the church, our places of work, and our government as channels of God’s provision but never as the primary sources of our blessings. We are called to serve God in the church, our places of employment or as responsible citizens, to be sure. And yet, no secondary channel is to be given our supreme loyalty as Lord of our lives.
E.g.
An outstanding businessman was asked what was the greatest difficulty that he was facing in living his faith. Every one expected he might answer that it was pressure, stress or people problem. Instead his answer was, “No question about it – my greatest difficulty is remembering that I could not breathe a breath, think a thought, envision a plan, earn a dollar, maintain strength or remain faithful to what I believe if it were not for the moment-by-moment blessing of God. When I forget that, I’m in trouble.”
When Gomer failed in her pursuit of happiness through her wrong lovers, she said, “I will go and return to my first husband” (verse 7). That’s one of the best turnaround statements in the Bible. When we are let down in all our pursuits of the wrong lovers, we will come to our senses and return to our God.
(IV) The Restoration
The repeated “I will” statements from verses 14-23 demonstrates the restoration of God upon us when we decide to give up our wrong lovers and return to the true Lover of our Soul.
1. “I Will Allure”
V14 –Therefore, behold, I will allure her, and bring her into the wilderness, and speak comfortably unto her.
God restores us by “alluring” or wooing us as lover woos his beloved, seeking her hand in marriage and God will speak tenderly to us through His Word and through the manifold blessing He bestows on us. Just as God led Israel through the wilderness and “married” her at Sinai, so God will meet His beloved in the wilderness (honeymoon place) in the last days and lead us into our land and His glorious kingdom.
2. “I Will Give”
V15- And I will give her her vineyards from thence, and the valley of Achor for a door of hope, and she shall sing there, as in the days of her youth, and as in the day when she came up out of the land of Egypt.
Here the Lord guarantees a return to their land and a restoration of their prosperity. In other words, the Lord will change their Valley of Achor (“trouble”) into a door of hope. The Valley of Achor was the place where Achan stole from God and brought shameful defeat to Israel’s army (Josh 7) but that memory would be erased from their minds. The valley would become a “door of hope” through which Israel would enter into a new life. This experience would produce singing, as when Israel escaped from Egypt and saw her enemies defeated. This is an Old Testament version of Romans 8:28 for only the Lord can take defeat and shame and turn it into victory and glory.
3. “I Will Take Away”
V16- And it shall be at that day, saith the Lord, that thou shalt call me Ishi and shalt call me no more Baal.
V17- For I will take away the names of Baalim out of her mouth and they shall no more be remembered by their name.
God declares an end to our wrong lovers. We would have a new vocabulary and the “Baal” would never be named again. “Ishi” means “my husband” in Hebrew and “Baalim” means “my master”. Both terms were used by Jewish wives when addressing their husbands. Here God promises to restore our relationship with Him and we will no longer continue running after wrong lovers but will serve and love the one true living God, who is the Lover of our Soul.
4. “I Will Betroth”
V18- And in that day will I make a covenant for them with the beasts of the field, and with the fowls of heaven and with the creeping things of the ground and I will break the bow and the sword and the battle out of the earth, and I will make them to lie down safely.
V19- And I will betroth thee unto me for ever: yea, I will betroth thee unto me in righteousness, and in judgment, and in loving-kindness, and in mercies.
V20- And I will betroth thee unto me in faithfulness, and thou shalt know the Lord.
God’s wooing would result in us yielding to Him and entering into a covenant relationship that would never end. Among the “wedding gifts” will be such blessings as righteousness, justice, love, compassion and faithfulness –everything that Israel had lacked during her years of separation from her Husband.
5. ‘I Will Respond”
V21 (NIV)- “In that day I will respond,” declares the Lord – “I will respond to the skies, and they will respond to the earth:
V22- and the earth will respond to the grain, the new wine and oil, and they will respond to Jezreel.
These two verses describe a tremendous cosmic conversation in which the Lord speaks to the heavens and the earth and they respond to each other and bring blessings to God’s people. The heaven sends the rain, the earth brings forth the produce and the Lord sends His rich blessings.
6. “I Will Plant”
V23 (NIV)- For I will plant her for myself in the land: I will show my love to the one I called ‘Not my loved one.’ I will say to those called ‘Not my people’, ‘You are my people’: and they will say, ‘You are my God.’
The word “Jezreel” means “God sows”. The image is that of God sowing His people in their land the way a farmer sows seed. He says to them, “You are my people.” They respond, “You are my God”.
These are how God will restore us when we repent of our wrong pursuit in this life and give up all our wrong lovers and return to Him.
Who is the true lover of your life today? We are made to love God first and foremost with all our strength, our mind and our soul but so many of us are running after the wrong lovers of this life and consequently, we experience nakedness, distress, hunger, thirst, danger and divine opposition. Let us today recognize that our supreme love should be Jesus Christ- the true husband and the Lover of our Soul. Let us return to our rightful affection and repent before God of all our misplaced affections.
My Testimony
Last week, I shared with all of you how I made the wrong turn of my life by getting involved with a boy after my 4th year high school. In a way, you can say I was running after the wrong lover of this life. Since my parents’ marriage had broken up after the bankruptcy of our family business, I thought I could find security and acceptance through the love of a guy but he left me stripped of my university dream. Human love can never satisfy a hungry and insecure heart. Only the love of Jesus can. Thankfully, this Lover of My Soul, Jesus found me in my bruised state; took me in; dressed my wounded heart and spirit; put His Holy Spirit within me and gradually impart His confidence and value in my inward man. I began to grow spiritually. But then half way through during my first year in Evangel Singapore, I saw this guy in our church, who looked quite like my ex-boyfriend. He was also of the same age as me and was also a junior college graduate like me. Secretly I wished I could be acquainted with him. But being a proud lady, I would never make the first move. But one day he saw me and he walked over to talk to me. He was surprised to learn that I was from St Andrew Junior College. Our conversation was very platonic and it did not go further than that.
At that time, I really wished things would proceed deeper than that but I was only a baby Christian – only one year in the Lord and the Lord restrained that relationship. He did not allow it to develop lest I substituted human love for Him. And also I was recovering from my rejection by my first boyfriend. God didn’t want me to make this guy my rebound. God wanted me to develop my utter dependence on Him first and to grow spiritually first. It took another 4 more years for my spiritual dependence and spiritual maturity to solidify. Then I was sent to the Missions Field, Iloilo City. For the next two years, I worked hard in the mission field, trying to establish the call and the ministry of God upon my life. Then God saw that I was ready for a guy –my spiritual fruit has matured within me and in came Pas Toh Nee. God wants us to solidify in our love for Him first before we engage in other pursuits of love. Had I quickly got involved with that guy whom I met in the first year in Evangel, I believe I would be bruised and hurt again.
Later, that first guy who I was interested in, left Evangel Spore. Even after my marriage to Pas Toh Nee, God took a long time to teach me to find my identity and completeness in Him and not in Pas Toh Nee. Yes, we should love our spouse but our spouse should not be our only one and supreme Love. Christ is that one and supreme love. The rest are secondary. I felt that my story resonates with the example of the Shulamite woman in the Song of Solomon. In chapter 5 of Song of Solomon, we are told that this Shulamite woman arose in the night and went in search of her lover. She encountered watchmen in the midst of her seeking. They beat and bruised her and stripped her veil from her. Whenever we choose to venture in our own flesh, in the dark hours of our lives, our outcomes will be the same as hers. Satan, who roams about as a lion seeking someone to devour, will always be there, ready and willing to take advantage of the fact that we have crept from beneath God’s covering. Stepping away from God’s covering leaves our hearts open to wounding and bruising. The Shulamite woman learned from her experience. The next time she was inclined to go out, she chose to wait until morning before she ventured forth. But, no longer was she in pursuit of her lover! She stated that she went “down to the grove of nut trees to look at the new growth in the valley, to see if the vines had budded or the pomegranates were in bloom” (Song of Solomon 6:11 NIV).
Then, before she realized it, she was surrounded by the chariots of her true lover! She went to look at the new growth in the valley! Like her, we can always count on new growth in the valleys of our lives. This is where the streams of God’s grace flow in abundance. As for the vine, Jesus says He is the Master Vine. He asks us to abide in Him. If you are firmly attached to the vine, the fruit in your life will be rich, succulent and refreshing like the pomegranate. As growth in Christ becomes your focus, a pleasant surprise will interrupt your preoccupation with your spiritual maturity. “Before I realized it,” the Shulamite woman declared, “my desire set me among the royal chariots of my people” (Song of Solomon 6:12). Her godly character attracted this man (Solomon); he surrounded her.
End of Sermon
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