Day 152: Intimacy

Today's Reading: Song of Solomon (Song of Songs)

How many of you remember the day you discovered how babies were made?

And then do you remember the realization that your mom and dad had "done it" to make you?

I remember my brother sharing the details with me. I was horrified to realize my parents had "done it" six times, one time for each of us kids. I was even more appalled when my brother looked at me with the same horror and said, "No, they do it all the time and they LIKE it!"

Reading the Song of Solomon initially is like walking in on your parents while they are "doing it." It is downright embarrassing, all this talk of breasts, navels and lips, all this talk of longing, of sensuality and...well, sex. It seems inappropriate to have this book right smack dab in the middle of the Bible when many think one of the main purposes of the Bible is to keep us from thinking about such things.

But at the heart of God's Word...GOD'S WORD...is a book describing the most intimate, arousing, and pleasurable act known to humanity...the act of intimate intercourse between two lovers.

Rob Bell in his book Sex God shares that intercourse is the human example of God's great love for us. It is downright intimate and orgasmic.

Now, I have to tell you, I've never heard a sermon on this kind of love between God and us. I've heard about the sacrificial love of John 3:16 and the servant love of a Messiah who kneels to wash feet, but sensual, sexual love is not the usual image when we consider that God so loved...me.

But perhaps this romantic, pleasurable, orgasmic love is closer to the real love of God than we think.

Can we get our minds around that?

How would that concept change your theology?

A very wise person told me to listen to the Song of Solomon over and over and over until the language got under my skin. Until it exploded within me...now there's a sexual symbol for you.

This wise person said, until we realize God's great love for us, we miss the real power of the gospel.

It's scary and yet it's...seductive, isn't it?

The other name for the Song of Solomon is "Song of Songs"...ie. the number one hit of the universe.

Dare we peek into this part of the Bible? and realize we are not being voyeuristic but invited into God's chamber of love for each one of us?