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Day 63: Beauty in Submission (SoS 1:10b)

“I have compared you, my love, To my filly among Pharaoh’s chariots. Your cheeks are lovely with ornaments, Your neck with chains of gold.”

Song of Songs 1:9‭-‬10

The neck determines where the head turns, so it is a symbol of the will of a man. God often in the Old Testament called Israel a stiff-necked people meaning they were stubborn and disobedient. Our will determines our attention, focus, character, thoughts, and decisions

When kings won in ancient times, some would put their foot on the defeated king's neck or head. It was a symbol of the conqueror's victory and the loser's submission.

Jesus conquered us not with a show of His power or supremacy over us, He conquered us with His love. He bought us with His precious blood but He doesn't lord it over us. He does not humiliate our submission when we surrender to Him. Rather, He sees beauty in and appreciates our surrender.

In some ancient kingdoms, the prince wore a chain of gold with the king's emblem on it. It wasn't just a beautiful accessory, it was a symbol of who He belonged to. Who we submit to, signifies who we belong to.

The chains of gold which the Beloved commended made her neck lovely symbolize Christ's royal authority bestowed on us when we surrendered to Him at salvation. Christ's authority beautifies us.

We have been looking at parts of The Shema, a very important Jewish prayer found in the Old Testament and quoted by Jesus. It says:

“...you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength...”
Mark 12:30

As the mind and will is part of the soul, submitting our will to God according to the Shema is submitting our mind and our soul to Him. 

One of the most precious gifts we can give God is our will. To submit our desires and entire life to fulfill the Lord's will, to do whatever pleases His heart. God is always in search of men like that because it is through them that His plans and purpose for the earth become reality.

Jesus laid for us an excellent example on this subject. He didn't have to come to earth as a man, He didn't have to lay down His life for us, take on our sins, and suffer the consequences of acts He never performed. His love for us however motivated Him as He stared suffering and death in the face. He said in the Garden of Gethsemane:

“Father, if you are willing, please take this cup of suffering away from me. Yet I want your will to be done, not mine.”
Luke 22:42 (New Living Translation)

Throughout His life on earth, He often expressed that He didn't come to do His own will but the Father's. At the end of the suffering and death, Christ was resurrected and He received a crown of glory. Not just that, He elevated us with Him. The task was difficult, but the reward was more than worth it.

Every single one of us is here on earth for a purpose. We must find that purpose and surrender completely it. To submit our will to God's will simply means to live a life focused on one thing only: pleasing God. 

The will is determined by our thoughts and mind. So we must renew our minds to John's words in 1 John 5:3 that God's commandments are not burdensome. They don't make out lives difficult but rather make them more glorious. 

Some think they have to do something grand to please Jesus. But as we see with the Church of Philadelphia in Revelations 3:8, He does not deny our little strength, He does not despise the seemingly little acts of obedience, rather He rejoices in them and rewards them.

Think about all the men who surrendered their will to God that we read and know about, could they have imagined how wonderful their lives turned out? Do not hold back your will from the Lord, submit to His will and see how beautiful your life becomes because of it.

PRAY WITH ME:
Dear Lord, thank you for loving me just as I am. I surrender my will to Your will, plans, and purpose for my life today. Give me grace, grant me strength to live the rest of my life in pleasing obedience to You. Amen.

REFLECT AND ACT:
  • Those seemingly little acts of obedience you have overlooked because they were not grand, celebrate the grace God gave you for them. Don't despise them.
  • Do you know God's plan and purpose for your life and have you completely surrendered to them?
  • One of the easy ways to align with God's will for our lives is to pray the prayer of consecration, letting go of our desire for ourselves, and surrendering our lives and will to God daily.

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