“I slept, but my heart was awake. A sound! My beloved is knocking” (Song 5:2).
There is such an urgency right now that I have sensed in my spirit for quite some time, and this simple truth burdens me for the body of Christ. It is all around us every day, and it became clearer to me as I awoke one morning to the Lord reminding me of Song of Solomon 5.
When we think about Song of Solomon, we immediately think about the romance, deep passion and intimacy represented between the king and his bride. However, this particular passage of Scripture that awakened me referenced the time when the bride was asleep, but her heart was awake. I want to exhort you by saying that we must be awake in every area as the body of Christ. The evidence of a pulse or a heartbeat is not enough. I believe God is calling us to wake up from slumber and to be an active bride.
In Song of Solomon 5, the bride hears her beloved knocking, and as she hears him, there is a pause to put on her garment and to dirty her feet in getting out of the bed of slumber to open the door and to answer his invitation to intimacy. While I dozed and thought about this, the Holy Spirit said to me, “This is what the church is comfortable doing right now. They hear the Bridegroom calling, but they desire to remain slumbering in comfort.”
This is a sobering passage to me, because I believe that the bride of Christ is content in slumbering while maintaining some evidence of life. It is not enough to have powerful gatherings with one another while the world does not recognize God’s presence when we are physically present before them. As we read Song of Solomon 5, we find that the bride decides to get out of the bed of slumber and to answer the door, only to find the bridegroom gone. She then goes looking for him and is beaten and bruised by the watchmen in the city. Following this, the bride proclaims, “I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem, if you find my beloved, that you tell him I am faint with love” (Song 5:8).
I understand that this is a small passage in the Word, but it speaks volumes. Intimacy with Christ is vital, but it is insufficient without action. Intimacy with Christ will cause problems with the world when we decide to come out the chambers of slumber. I see so many in the church who defend themselves and attack others instead of pursuing Him.
Saints, we are not fully awake. We have believed that because our mind, will and emotions are awake, that alone is sufficient, while we are spiritually asleep. Are we willing to soil our feet and put on our garments without hesitation at His call? Are we willing to awaken and pursue Him while suffering at the hands of those not in pursuit of Him? When we are fully awake, we pursue Him no matter the cost. We tell others of our lovesickness for Him, regardless of what may come at the hands of man or the schemes of the devil. We want others to know Him like we know Him.
Every time God speaks to us, He is extending an invitation to know Him even more and to worship Him in Spirit and truth. That call requires of us more than we want to pay many times. But it is a call to awaken and to not lose that lovesickness for Him. There are people all around us every day who are spiritually dead yet have a physical pulse and a spiritually arrhythmic heartbeat. It is a beat not in sync with the heart of the Father. What good is it when our heartbeat resonates more with the world than with God’s heartbeat?
We must awaken! We are on the precipice of greater things, and they require our full attention. Do not think twice about getting out of the bed of slumber to answer His beckoning. Put on your garments, soil your feet and run to Him. Do not fear persecution or trials for pursuing and declaring Jesus Christ. Refuse to lose an ounce of lovesickness for Him. Awake, awake, O slumbering bride! Don’t be content to remain half-awake or slumbering while He is knocking on your heart, calling you to intimacy with Him and to be present in His presence. Do not compromise for the sake of comfort. Let us awaken! {eoa}
Dawn Hill is a Christ-follower and a freelance writer. She writes a blog called “Lovesick Scribe.”
This article originally appeared at lovesickscribe.com.
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