His Beauty

His cheeks are as a bed of spices, as sweet flowers.

­­--Song of Solomon 5:13

           

            The flowery month is here! March winds and April showers have done their work, and the earth is all adorned in beauty. Come, my soul, and put on your holiday attire; go forth to gather garlands of heavenly thoughts. You know where to go, for you know well the “bed of spices.” You have often smelled the perfume of “sweet flowers.” You will go at once to your Well Beloved and find all loveliness and all joy in Him. 

That cheek—once so rudely smitten with a rod, often wet with tears of sympathy and then defiled with spit—that cheek, as it smiles with mercy, is a fragrant aroma to my heart. You did not hide Your face from shame and spit, O Lord Jesus; therefore, I will find my dearest delight in praising You. Those cheeks were furrowed by the plow of grief and crimsoned with red lines of blood from Your thorn-crowned temples. Such marks of limitless love cannot but charm my soul far more than great quantities of perfume. 

If I may not see the whole of His face, I would behold His cheeks, for the least glimpse of Him is exceedingly refreshing to my spiritual sense and yields a variety of delights. In Jesus I find not only fragrance, but a “a bed of spices”; not one flower, but all manner of “sweet flowers.” He is to me my Rose and My Lily, my heart’s comfort and my healing balm. When He is with me, it is May all year round. My soul goes forth to wash its happy face in the morning dew of His grace and to comfort itself with the singing of the birds of His promises. 

Precious Lord Jesus, let me truly know the blessedness that dwells in abiding, unbroken fellowship with You. I am a poor worthless one, whose cheek You have deigned to kiss! Oh, let me kiss You in return with the kisses of my lips.

--Charles Spurgeon

Jesus, move me to action. I have been changed by Your love; Your beautiful love. Send me out in that love. Break my heart Jesus, break my heart for the very people who turn against You. Break my heart over my sin, and continue to heal my past, and pour Your grace out on me daily. I NEED YOU.