Page 99 - Radical Love by Linda Robinson

RADICAL LOVE

In verse 2, the Lord continues to encourage and edify her by calling her

a lily among thorns. He refers to her as His darling! In The Passion
Translation, verse 2 states that she stands out from all the others.

The others are not the unsaved, but those who have not surrendered to
the work of the cross to the degree that she has. Jeanne Guyon has this

to say about the verse in her commentary:

“By these words, the Groom tells of the progress of His Beloved. You
are like a pure and pleasant lily and a sweet fragrance before Him.

There are other daughters, however, who are not yet pliable and
submitted to His Spirit. They are like a deep, impenetrable thicket of

thorns. Anyone who tries to approach these thorns is wounded. Such

people are self-possessed and still driven by their own will. When you
desire to yield to the will of God completely, others who are not so

yielded may do everything they can to turn you away from total
consecration to God. Treatment like this causes you great suffering.

The lily, however, perfectly preserves its purity and its perfume, even
when surrounded by thorns. Those who are abandoned to the will of

God are kept by the Bridegroom, despite all opposition from those who

prefer to be their guides and do their own works, without following the
moving of God’s grace.”

Thorns can also be representative of those who, having tasted the
goodness of God, then choose to reject Him outright (Hebrews 6:8).

They can also symbolise sin that came into the world when Adam

disobeyed God (Genesis 3:18). And as we are called to be in the world

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