Skip to main content

Day 73: Single-Eyed Devotion (S0S 1:15)

“Behold, you are fair, my love! Behold, you are fair! You have dove’s eyes.”
Song of Songs 1:15

The Beloved begins again with an affirmation but this time a double one. It's a sign that the recent events had made the Bride more Beautiful to Him.

Jesus loves every expression of our love and what He is to us. He loves when we discover new things about Him and deepen our knowledge of Him. We will find many more affirmations like this throughout this song. Jesus loves every progress we make, no matter how insignificant they may be to us.

The beloved states however the reason for the double affirmation: she has dove's eyes.

Because of their many amazing qualities, doves are often used in scripture to signify the Holy Spirit. We'll reserve that for later in the series. For now, let's see what makes their eyes special.

Even though doves can see three hundred degrees they have no peripheral vision. They can only see one thing at a time. Jesus in Matthew 6:22 (King James Version):

“The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light. But if thine eye is evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness!”

In essence, Jesus was saying that we are only as spiritually healthy as our singleness of focus and to have one focus is to have light. In essence, what we focus on, determines how much light we have.

Light in the bible signifies spiritual insight and it is a work of the Holy Spirit in us. Paul prayed in Ephesians 1:17:

“...that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may grant you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation [that gives you a deep and personal and intimate insight] into the true knowledge of Him [for we know the Father through the Son]. And [I pray] that the eyes of your heart [the very center and core of your being] may be enlightened [flooded with light by the Holy Spirit]...” (Amplified version)

But what should be our focus?

Unlike some other animals, doves have only one partner in their lifetime and because of their loyalty to their mate, they focus is always on them. They focus so much that they always move in sync. They take flight and land at the same time, flap their wings at the same time and do everything they do together.

Jesus throughout His ministry on earth always said what He sees the Father do, He does also and He does nothing that the Father does not do. Jesus never allowed Himself to be pressured into doing anything. No matter how badly the people around Him wanted it. He was devoted to God as doves are devoted to their mates.

When Lazarus His friend whom people acknowledged He loved died in John 11, Jesus was not sentimental or moved. Not because He didn't care about Lazarus or his health but I believe it was because He had not gotten a signal from the Father. When He eventually went, the result of waiting was more glorious than it would have been if He healed Lazarus.

When we read through the story of David from 1 Samuel 16 to 2 Samuel, we'll see another excellent example of single-eyed devotion. David never did anything without inquiring of the Lord. When we read through the Psalms, we will also see that David's thoughts and meditations were always about God and His commandments.

In the last two verses, the bride spoke about her beloved. How he is like a necklace of myrrh around her neck and we said it means that we must have our thoughts on Jesus and His sacrificial love at all times.

The key to being single-eyed is to always fix our thoughts on Jesus. The more we fix our thoughts on Jesus, the more the Holy Spirit grants us light (spiritual insight) about His person. There is no one as devoted to Jesus as His Holy Spirit that resides inside us. Jesus said in John 16:13-15 that the Holy Spirit will reveal Him to us.

We must look to Jesus at all times, stay in communion with Him always and keep Him at the fore of our minds. When our thoughts are on Him, we will learn to move in sync with Him. We will move when He moves and stop when He stops. And as He said about the Father in John 10:30, we will able to say we are one with our Beloved Jesus.

PRAY WITH ME:
My Beloved Jesus, as I keep my thoughts on You at all times, let your Holy Spirit flood my heart with spiritual insight into the knowledge of You. In every decision I make, even the seemingly insignificant ones, help me to only do as You do and move in sync with You and the Father. Amen.

REFLECT & ACT:
  • Read in different versions and meditate on Paul's words to the Corinthians in 2 Corinthians 11:1-5
  • Throughout today, keep your thoughts on Jesus. Meditate on His person, character, sacrificial love, and the wonderful things He has done for you.






Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Day 152: To the Mountain of Myrrh (SoS 4:6)

Until the day breaks and the shadows flee away, I will go my way to the mountain of myrrh and to the hill of frankincense. (Song of Songs 4:6) In the previous lesson, we began to examine the Bride's response to the Beloved's seven-fold compliment. We discussed how she finally gave a positive reply to a request he had previously tendered in SoS 2:17. We examined a part of her response, and now let's explore the next part: ...I will go my way to the mountain of myrrh and to the hill of frankincense. We have mentioned a couple of times in this series that myrrh is a burial spice. Its mention in the Bible often signifies death and sacrifice. It was one of the spices presented to Jesus at His birth and was also used to prepare Him for burial. In the same way that Jesus embraced death on the cross, the Bride goes to the mountain of myrrh embracing death to self. She knows resolute obedience will cost her that. Jesus said in Luke 14:27: ...whoever does not bear his cr...

Day 53: The Unforced Rhythms of Grace (SoS 1:7a)

“ Tell me, O you whom I love, Where you feed your flock, Where you make it rest at noon. For why should I be as one who veils herself by the flocks of your companions? Song of Songs 1:7 Aft er the Bride's experience of being overworked, she didn't seek her Beloved in His chambers, nor did she seek Him in a place of leisure. Rather, she sought Him at His workplace. When we find ourselves in a spiritual crisis, especially when we're overworked or burnt out by activities, we must realize that oftentimes, the problem is not how much or what we're doing but how we are doing it. There is only so much the human flesh and mind can handle when it comes to physical work talk less spiritual. Paul did express in 1 Corinthians 15:58 in the Amplified version that we are to labor in our work for the Lord to the point of exhaustion . I believe it's why Paul in praying for the Ephesian church prayed for them to be strengthened with might by God's Spirit in their inner man . Thin...

Day 149: Virtues of the Maturing Bride 6 (SoS 4:4)

Your neck is like the tower of David, Built for an armory, On which hang a thousand bucklers, All shields of mighty men. (Song of Songs 4:4) In Lesson 63, we examined the meaning of the neck as used in the scriptures. We spoke about how the neck represents our will. We also spoke about how a stiff neck in scripture often refers to a stubborn, proud, and unyielding heart before God. However, it is beautified by our submission to Jesus. In SoS 1:10, the Bride's neck was beautified because of her submission to Christ. In this verse, her neck is said to be like a tower. Let's look at that. There isn't any record of a tower of David in the scriptures but Nehemiah 3:25 gives a hint. It mentions a '...tower which projects from the king’s upper house...' Towers are long upright structures built to withstand assaults. They are also often higher than other structures so watchmen were posted there as part of the defense of a city. The Bride's neck like a tower allu...