A Love Story

“One night as I was sleeping, my heart awakened in a dream. I heard the voice of my beloved; he was knocking at my bedroom door. ‘Open to me, my darling, my lover, my lovely dove,’ he said, ‘for I have been out in the night and am covered with dew.’ ”

“Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou, Romeo?”

“But soft, what light through yonder window breaks?

It is the east, and Juliet is the sun.” ~ William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet

Romeo and Juliet has always been one of my favorite works of William Shakespeare.  A lovestruck couple pursuing their love amidst great odds.  A hero, a heroine, tragedy and true love.  This theme has been the setting for many a story, play and movie year after year.

Another new year has just arrived, and to my astonishment, as I walked into the grocery store on January 2, employees were already setting out Valentine’s Day cards!  I had to smile.  My thoughts were still lingering on our family’s fun New Year’s Eve celebration, and now I was being reminded of Valentines Day, the day we set aside in the U.S. to celebrate love.  Hmmm. I decided right there in the middle of the card aisle to fully embrace 2016, this New Year, to be a year of the heart … a year of renewed intimacy and love.

The quote I began this piece with is not from Shakespeare, but from Scripture. It is from  Song of Solomon 5:2, yet it reads as if it were one of Juliet’s lines.  A faithful lover is pursuing his beloved, even unto the cold, wet night. William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet was published in 1597.  That was a long time ago.  But the love story theme has an even more ancient origin – in the Bible’s book of Genesis.  God and His children Adam and Eve existed in perfect relationship and love. The serpent destroyed the trust and intimacy of their relationship (tragedy), and this breach of relationship and the sinfulness that followed “grieved God to his heart.” (Genesis 6:6)  Throughout the ages, even unto the darkest of nights, God has continued His faithful and relentless pursuit of His beloved children (true love).

Know this…this year, God is faithfully and relentlessly pursuing you.  More specifically, He is pursuing your heart. He wants to bring you ever deeper into His love. He wants to heal all that makes you weep, all that has drawn you away from Him. He wants you to know that no matter who you are or where you are, no matter how many mistakes you have made, He loves you and wants to enfold you into His loving embrace.  Our daily lives on earth are fraught with busyness, trouble, war, chaos, and so many distractions.  But God, our ever faithful lover, is always there, quietly beckoning, “Open to me, my darling…”

It is my prayer that 2016 will bring a year of re-awakening to the heart of God and that we, His beloved, will re-discover the intimacy He intended for us. One of my most loved Scriptures is Psalm 37:4 ~ “Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart.”  I wish for you that in this new year, you will receive the dearest desires of your heart.  And if you haven’t heard this truth, hear it now…YOU are the dearest desire of God’s heart!

In my humble opinion, God is the ultimate Romeo.  No one can love you more than He.

Happy New Year!