Hey guys, this is the wrap up of the Song of Solomon by Pastor Kong on Thursday!
(Note that all bible verses will be as quoted by New King James Version aka NKJV interpretation)

So why did I name it as crucifying yourself? Okay lets start by looking at part of SoS 7:1 [How beautiful are your feet in sandals] the feet refers to evangelistic work and and the word sandals refer to the readiness to preach the Gospel and now lets look at and compare Rom 10:15 [“How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace,Who bring glad tidings of good things!”] and all these is being used to describe the Shulamite woman, after gaining her maturity in her love for King Solomon and we shall use this to compare the Christian as the Shulamite woman and King Solomon as Jesus, We all go through the stages of being a baby christian, growing christian and finally being a mature christian. Now lets look at the SoS 7:2 [Your waist is a heap of wheat, Set about with lilies.] Wheat speaks of new convert and lily speaks of purity and drawing from this, it shows that she has gained maturity!

Maturity in all forms comes with pain, Ohhh the pains of growing up! It is the same with being mature christian, you suffer humiliation and rejection just like Jesus did! And now lets carry on with SoS 7:4 [Your neck is like an ivory tower,Your eyes like the pools in Heshbon By the gate of Bath Rabbim. Your nose is like the tower of Lebanon] Heshbon in Hebrew means clear/understanding and Bath Rabbin in hebrew means Daughter of a large company and nose speaks of Spiritual discernment and its just like using your spiritual senses and smells for discernment. In 7:5 [....And the hair of your head is like purple;] Hair speaks of consecration, (look back Samson immediately losing his strength after he lost his hair) and purple refers to Royalty and this shulamite woman has gained this new level of consecration and royalty through maturity and in 7:7 [This stature of yours is like a palm tree] Palms are deeply rooted and it compares her faith being deeply rooted.

The life of a truly mature christian is not dependant on outward circumstances. Even though sometimes we may be given a test, God will still find treasures within darkness for us. If you want to be a blessing to the world, then draw God closer in your relationship and its evident, people can see it and will start questioning you.. "How come are you doing so well etc etc) However of course being a mature christian isn't an easy feat either that's why its a day to day process. As long as you are still seeking for praying for yourself for almost all the time, then you aren't matured yet. You are just being self-centered and being God's children is all about seeking His kingdom and He will bless you! Deut 28:1-2 [“Now it shall come to pass, if you diligently obey the voice of the LORD your God, to observe carefully all His commandments which I command you today, that the LORD your God will set you high above all nations of the earth. And all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, because you obey the voice of the LORD your God.] Amen to that.

Sometimes you would ask yourself a question.. "How does God feel about me?" Now lets go back to Gen 29 On the relationship of Jacob with his wives Rachel and Leah. Jacob was in love with Rachel but not with Leah. Rachel was beautiful of form and appearance but not Leah. Now look at Gen 29:31 [When the LORD saw that Leah was unloved, He opened her womb; but Rachel was barren. So Leah conceived and bore a son, and she called his name Reuben;[a] for she said, “The LORD has surely looked on my affliction. Now therefore, my husband will love me.” Then she conceived again and bore a son, and said, “Because the LORD has heard that I am unloved, He has therefore given me this son also.” And she called his name Simeon. She conceived again and bore a son, and said, “Now this time my husband will become attached to me, because I have borne him three sons.” Therefore his name was called Levi. And she conceived again and bore a son, and said, “Now I will praise the LORD.” Therefore she called his name Judah. Then she stopped bearing.] As you can see no matter how many children Leah bore for Jacob, he still loved Rachel more and with this we can look at our own attitude towards God... It is the inner life of the Spirit that God draws near to, not the tithing and works of your ministry. Holiness is not outward but it is the inward that makes all the difference, true spirituality isn't for show to others but to God.
Now lets compare and look at SoS 1:6 [.........They made me the keeper of the vineyards,But my own vineyard I have not kept.] SoS 7:12 [Let us get up early to the vineyards; Let us see if the vine has budded...] If you have read my entry on (Brothers and Sisters in Christ.) 1:6 speaks of her only caring about the faith of others but didn't check on her own faith but now in 7:12 now rather than just checking on her own faith, she raises other baby christians up as well because she has gained maturity.

The immature shows his/her love by communion & consecration - Spending time with God and living a crucified life, whereas the mature shows his/her love by fruitfulness and productivity for God's kingdown. Friends.. going to church on a weekend, attending cellgroup meetings(for some megachurches) is the bare minimum requirement duty of being a Christian. And why do we have to serve in ministry? Its main purpose is so that we do not come to Jesus empty handed on Judgment Day, He gave all of us unique talents to use and serve Him. However we all have to remember that there is a reproach when we serve Jesus. You will be shamed by the overreligious(even fellow christians) and anti-christians, just like how Jesus was mocked by the Pharisees who are exceedingly overreligious and their spirtuality and holiness being for show for others.

If you think you have reached maturity.. keep going on and on! There is still more to grow, the more you learn, the more you realise there are things you don't know!

As mentioned in (Do you sometimes think, "God has forsaken me!) I have mentioned about wilderness(which refers to test). In our lives we will have 2 wildernesses, the first wilderness deals with our sin problem and our second wilderness experience deals with attitude, pride, trust and dependency on the Lord. Lets look at a few men mentioned in the Old Testament... Joseph's first wilderness was being sold away to be a slave in an Egyptian household and his second wilderness was being locked up in prison and he finally came out of it being 2nd to the Pharaoh after prophesying the Pharoah's dream. and Moses, his first wilderness being having to lead the Israelites out of Egypt and his second wilderness was having to lead the Israelites for 40 years!

You can be a very moral based person, but you can be a complacent person. You may follow Confucius ideology but still be proud. Mature Christians seeks and loves God more and more everyday and yearns for it!

Some people say Jealously is a sin then what can you make out when our God is a Jealous God? Love is as strong as the sting of death and it is certain. Jealousy is protective of love, Jealousy is justifiable when your love is being threatened.. its just like you would take it to heart when someone hits on your spouse, they go hand in hand. as shown in Prov 6:34-35[for jealousy arouses a husband's fury,and he will show no mercy when he takes revenge.He will not accept any compensation; he will refuse the bribe, however great it is.] And that is how God loves us. Are you willing to exchange money, a job that pays well and power for God's love.

In SoS 8:7 [Many waters cannot quench love,Nor can the floods drown it.] Water and floods refers to the obstructions of love in this case.

So sometimes we think.. what do we do makes God happy? God is happy when you go to church, read the bible, pray, sing praise and worship in His name. but God would be very very happy if you trust Him for your life for His kingdom. Seek His Kingdom first and He shall bless you.

And now to the part where I was saying.. Crucifying yourself? I thought Jesus crucified and died for us on the cross already? Jesus endured the shame and rejection for spreading the Gospel and for the glory His Father and wouldn't that make us more worthy of getting shamed and humiliated for spreading the Gospel? My Pastor was saying earlier today.. "woe to me if I do not spread the Gospel because of the blessings I have." We owe the gospel to the lost!!

Godspeed!
Andreas Lucius