September 24, 2020 8:00 pm
I stood amazed at the hundreds of thousands of padlocks, many engraved with the initials of sweethearts, attached to every imaginable part of the Pont des Arts bridge in Paris. The pedestrian bridge across the Seine River was inundated with these symbols of love, a couple’s declaration of “forever” commitment. In 2014, the love locks were estimated to weigh a staggering fifty tons and even caused a portion of the bridge to collapse, necessitating the locks’ removal.
The presence of so many love locks points to the deep longing we have as human beings for assurance that love is secure. In Song of Songs, an Old Testament book that depicts a dialogue between two lovers, the woman expresses her desire for secure love by asking her beloved to “place me like a seal over your heart, like a seal on your arm” (Song of Songs 8:6). Her longing was to be as safe and secure in his love as a seal impressed on his heart or a ring on his finger.
The longing for enduring romantic love expressed in Song of Songs points us to the New Testament truth in Ephesians that we are marked with the “seal” of God’s Spirit (Ephesians 1:13). While human love can be fickle, and locks can be removed from a bridge, Christ’s Spirit, living in us, is a permanent seal demonstrating God’s never-ending, committed love for each of His children.
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Welcome to today's encouragement from Our Daily Bread. Today's reading, titled Love Locks, was written by Lisa Samra. I stood amazed at the hundreds of thousands of padlocks, many engraved with the initials of sweethearts, attached to every imaginable part of the Pont des Arts bridge in Paris. The pedestrian bridge across the Seine River was inundated with these symbols of love, a couple's declaration of forever commitment.
In 2014, the love locks were estimated to weigh a staggering 50 tons and had even caused a portion of the bridge to collapse, necessitating the locks removal. The presence of so many love locks points to the deep longing we have as human beings for assurance that love is secure. In Song of Songs, an Old Testament book that depicts a dialogue between two lovers, the woman expresses her desire for secure love by asking her beloved to, Place me like a seal over your heart, like a seal on your arm. Her longing was to be as safe and secure in his love as a seal impressed on his heart or a ring on his finger. The longing for enduring romantic love expressed in Song of Songs points us to the New Testament truth in Ephesians that we are marked with the seal of God's Spirit. While human love can be fickle and locks can be removed from a bridge, Christ's Spirit living in us is a permanent seal, demonstrating God's never-ending committed love for each of his children. Today's Our Daily Bread devotional scripture reading is from Song of Songs, chapter 8, verses 5 through 7.
Under the apple tree I roused you, there your mother conceived you, there she who was in labor gave you birth. Place me like a seal over your heart, like a seal on your arm, for love is as strong as death, its jealousy unyielding as the grave, it burns like blazing fire, like a mighty flame. Many waters cannot quench love, rivers cannot sweep it away.
If one were to give all the wealth of one's house for love, it would be utterly scorned. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, thank you that even though the security of human love often shifts like the wind, your love for us is strong, steadfast, and eternal. It never wavers.
It never ends and you love us even and especially when we don't deserve it. Thank you for being our stronghold. Oh, thank you, Lord. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Today's encouragement was provided by Our Daily Bread Ministries.
Whisper: medium.en / 2024-02-27 23:36:45 / 2024-02-27 23:38:15 / 2
