Page 106 - Radical Love by Linda Robinson

SESSION 5 : Song of Songs 2:1-7 (NIV)

the experiential side of her relationship with the Lord and really only

wants Jesus for what He can give her.

I use the analogy of this love as a season of the parental love of God

because, when we are babies and children—even up to upper teenage
years—our love can still be all about what we can get from our parents:

love and nurture, food, clothing, affirmation, money, and instruction,

etc. It is the job of parents to prepare and equip their children to live
securely and confidently in the broader world. Our parents don’t

disappear as we mature—they are still there—but they have taught us
how to stand on our own two feet.

Similarly, as ‘babes’ in the faith, we are initially like these children—

constantly needing the reassurance of the Holy Spirit’s presence with
us. We, like the very young, constantly need reminding that He is our

El Shaddai—our ‘more than enough’ God—who, despite how we may
feel, is feeding, nurturing, and watching over us constantly, irrespective

of whether we experience any tangible signs of this being the case or
not.

We only need to look at the example of the Israelites in the desert in

the Old Testament. For forty years, God provided manna for them
every morning, until one day—in the book of Joshua—the manna

ceased, and God told them it was time to feed themselves. In other
words, it was time to display the fruit of God’s faithfulness and

nurturing and stand firm in the faith.

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