I sleep, but my heart is awake.

A sound! My beloved is knocking:

“Open to me, my sister, my darling,

my dove, my flawless one.

My head is drenched with dew,

my hair with the dampness of the night.” vs2

Don’t reject this knocking! When the Lord knocks, the door is to be opened. This is the door of eternal life, the door of pleasure, and the meaning of our existence, which is to fellowship in His love.

We are not here to do mere duties, but to be LOVE ENTHRALLED with our Lord Jesus - to see His love in a way that satisfies, thrills, guides, and directs. This love is the greatest thing in existence, and we must have it, or we cannot be happy and serve in joy [Song 1:2].

Every other love is a poor substitute; it is false, if it takes the place of or drives us away from Christ. Contentment without Him is delusion of the highest order; it is Satan deceiving us, the foxes spoiling the vines, and it is false! We lose the power of the Lord Jesus, if His love is not paramount!

Don’t be deceived. Don’t go any other way: We must have this love or we grasp at the wind and dwell in vanity. God’s love enjoyed is mandatory for abundant life. We can’t live by the terrors of legalism; we can’t be happy by religious activity; it must be love stirring up love… Christ stirring up Christians.

Secondly, everything that we desire is with Christ - joy, peace, and power over sin. [Song 7:13]

“The mandrakes send forth a fragrance,

and at our door is every delicacy,

new as well as old,

that I have treasured up for you, my beloved.” vs13

Mistakenly, we try to live on empty, running on our own fumes, instead of being enthralled with Him! We are content to stay away. We are duped. We doubt His presence and take it for granted. We run away. We content ourselves in unbelief and satisfy ourselves on the husks of doctrine!

We need revival of spirit, and then we’ll see that Christ’s love is everything; it is the key to evangelism, the joy of life, and what makes us lay our life down. Being comforted, we are able to comfort. The more deeply we drink of His love, the more passionately we love others.

Look at George Whitefield and Robert McCheyne, how they burned within, passionately proclaiming Christ to save sinners. How can we get a heart like that? There’s only one way: Be bathed in Him, drink of Him, and enjoy Him repeatedly! Go back again and again to this love and don’t live without it. Refuse to live below your inheritance, like a man who has mansions REFUSING to live on the streets! He has the title deeds. He has the keys. He will not be barred and kept out!

Use your privileges in prayer wisely and seek Him. Turn off the television. Use prayer and fasting. Turn away from social media and get into the Book. Be alone with God and pour out your heart to Him. Read His word until it speaks.

We are not going through the motions of playing religion. We don’t want to be idolaters who ate, drank, and rose up to play. We want infatuation with Christ - a thrill that touches the heart and passions, that liberates and enlightens. We want forgiveness and nearness to Christ.

Finally, our desire is that the Lord Jesus hears us. [Song 8:13]

“You who dwell in the gardens,

my companions are listening for your voice.

Let me hear it!” vs13

It is not enough to preach and talk to men; it is not enough to orate with sound doctrine; it is not enough to speak of Him often to others. We must speak to Him, not merely “saying our prayers,” but entering relationship and obtaining power.

Rebecca said,

“Give me children or I will die.” [Gen 30:1]

We must ask for something higher, even God Himself in Christ. We must ask for fellowship and love to be experienced. We must never say, “Don’t worry about feelings.”

Dear sir, do you not want to feel passionately about something in life? Do you not want something to thrill you? God has given us the love of Christ, and it is better than the love of a woman, the joy of children, or the pleasure of nice things; it is better than winning in sport or battle; it is better than success in the eyes of men! Christ’s love is the intoxication of life, and we are to be thrilled with it [Song 5:1]!

Dear one, it doesn’t matter the season - pandemic, church buildings closed, economic ruin, ethnic strife, and culture wars in the streets. None of these things matter: They are incapable of stopping Christ’s love.

Can’t He save the sinner, even now, and thrill His heart with joy and power? Can’t He thrill the man who has nothing, even at the door of death itself? Of course, He can!

God doesn’t need anything other than HIMSELF REVEALED to meet our every need and satisfy us deeply. Why is it different for the saints? Why do we need things to work out, votes to go your way, or even money before we can be satisfied?

When God restored me, I had no money, and asked the church for help. I went in that day confident that God had sent me, so it didn’t matter the embarrassment! I was confident in God, and I did not send myself, but through prayer, He sent me. This is the confidence we need to face life and death, and it is boldness to die for Him without fearing.

“How can I not give Him my life?” I reasoned. “How can I not lay it all down, when I’m enjoying Him so much?” This is how I became a missionary, and this is how we’ll live to the glory of God in boldness before men.

We won’t fear because we have Christ. We’ll be encouraged by slander and delighted by persecutions, because His love provides what we need.