Song of Songs is a love song, and it has a chorus. While metaphors are occasionally re-used through the Song, there is only one verse that is repeated, and that verse is repeated three times with only minor variations (in 2:7, 3:5 and 8:4): I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem, by the gazelles or …
Song of Songs tells the story of a passionate relationship between a man and a woman. They long to be together. They dream of one another’s company and the future they might have together. In that context, the man comes to the woman’s house in chapter 2. She is living with her mother and he …
When you are early on in a romantic relationship, everything about the one you love is fantastic. You cannot find a flaw. They appear perfect to you in every way. Their laugh, their mannerisms, their jokes, everything is just ideal in your eyes. This is what it meant by the phrase “love is blind”. Driven …
Song of Songs is a book that is full of passion. The woman dreams of being with the man, and the man looks at the woman and sees the one who has captivated his heart. They speak to one another in poetry and use colourful metaphors to describe each other’s body parts. When they are …
A great many people simply assume that sex and relationships are two completely different things. Sex is seen as only a physical act. For many decades now, from one-night stands to Tinder ‘dates’ to internet pornography, many seek out sex as a means to their own gratification. The connection between sex and a real relationship …
I fear that many people think that the Christian teaching on sex is “it is bad, don’t do it”. After all, many of the public statements from Christian sources on this topic are to oppose something that doesn’t fit the Biblical ideal. There are many “thou shall nots” when it comes to Christian teaching about …
It is easy to become defeatist about being a Christian in this world. We can see how difficult it is to resist temptation. We can see the prominent people on Instagram speaking about how they deconstructed their faith and are feeling so much happier with life apart from church. We see laws being passed or …
When the Bible describes the local church, it often uses the language of family or body. We are the household of God, brothers and sisters in Christ. We are a body with many parts, where every part is important (such as in 1 Cor 12 and Eph 4:15-16). These word pictures communicate our connection to …
Have you ever borrowed someone’s car or looked after their house while they have been on holidays? While it is a blessing to have use of a car or house that you don’t usually have, we feel the responsibility of it. We are nervous that something might go wrong with this important and expensive thing …
The great dream of many people is a life of leisure. It sounds good, doesn’t it? Sitting back, doing whatever you want (or nothing at all). If only we had enough money to spend our lives like that, most of us think that this would make us happy. It’s not true. We are made to …