October 20th, 2026
by Gerard Eldridge
by Gerard Eldridge
By Terry Smith | Jubilee Christian Center
Have you ever wanted to follow Jesus more closely, yet found yourself preoccupied with everything that still needs to change in you? You love Him. You want to do the Father’s will. But when you look at yourself, the hurts, the struggles, and the things you have not overcome seem to take up the whole picture. How do we move forward from there? As we walk with Jesus, He teaches us to receive His love, recognize what He has made new within us, and respond when He calls us into something more.
The Song of Songs gives us a beautiful picture of that process. On its natural level, it is a song about human love. In the spiritual application I am making, the king pictures Jesus as our Shepherd, our Bridegroom, and our King, while the maiden pictures the believer. Reading it this way, we see something of how He draws us, establishes us in His love, and prepares us to follow Him. We are also looking at the relationship from the King’s viewpoint. What does He see in His beloved? What delights Him? Those questions can change the way we come to Jesus.
Learning to See Yourself as He Sees You
At the beginning of the song, the maiden is drawn by the king’s beauty, yet she is painfully aware of her own condition. She describes herself as dark, yet lovely (Song of Songs 1:5). In the picture I am drawing from this passage, there is something beautiful in her, but her difficulties dominate the way she sees herself. We can recognize that in our own lives. There can be a real love for Jesus and, at the same time, agitation, anger, bitterness, or hurt. When those things become the first and loudest things we say about ourselves, it is difficult to come to Him with confidence.
But notice how the king addresses her. He calls her the most beautiful among women (Song of Songs 1:8). In this spiritual application, I hear the Lord speaking to the desire of her heart: “Your hunger for Me is beautiful. Your desire for Me matters to Me.” That does not mean the difficulties are imaginary or that nothing needs to change. It means He sees more than the difficulties. He sees a heart turning toward Him, and that response is precious to Him.
As the song continues, he calls her a lily among thorns (Song of Songs 2:2). Think about what thorns do. They keep things from coming too close. In this application, they picture the self-protection we sometimes put around our hearts: “Do not come in here. Do not touch that.” Yet He sees her opening to Him. You do not discover that about yourself simply by examining everything that is wrong. You need to receive how He sees you. A problem can be real without being the whole truth about you, and receiving His love helps you grow beyond what has held you.
Giving His Work Time to Grow
There are seasons when the Lord has us rest in what He is giving us. In my application of Song of Songs 2:7, I see Him protecting the tender work He is doing in His beloved. Something is taking root. She needs time to receive it and become established in it. We need to be careful with one another in those seasons. When someone is just beginning to receive from Jesus, that is no time to point out everything he or she is doing wrong. Pay attention to what the Lord is doing, and give Him room to establish His work.
We also need that patience with ourselves. Walking with Jesus is personal. My wife is not a formula. I cannot reduce our relationship to, “If I do this and that, she will be happy.” I have to know her. There is a real person there! In the same way, we learn to know Jesus, hear His voice, and respond to Him. Jesus said that His sheep hear His voice, that He knows them, and that they follow Him (John 10:27). Biblical principles help guide us, but we are learning to walk with the Lord Himself.
As the maiden grows, she becomes more sensitive to her beloved’s approach. In Song of Songs 2:8, she recognizes him coming over the mountains and hills. In this picture, I see Jesus coming in the power and freedom of His resurrection life. Some of our difficulties seem like hills we are tired of climbing. Others look like mountains we cannot get over at all. Yet He comes in a life to which those mountains present no obstacle. Through our relationship with Him, He works His life into us. You cannot put a cake in the oven at six hundred degrees and make the process better by baking it faster! There is a process, and it is worth it.
When He Calls You Beyond the Familiar
Then something changes. In Song of Songs 2:9, the beloved is standing outside, looking through the windows and peering through the lattice. He has come, but he has not come inside to sit with her as before. Now he says, “Arise, my darling, my beautiful one, and come along” (Song of Songs 2:10). In the spiritual application, it is as though Jesus is saying, “I have had you rest in what I was giving you. Now there is something new, and you need to come with Me.”
Earlier, she had asked to be drawn after him so that they could run together (Song of Songs 1:4). That is like our prayer, “Jesus, I want to run with You and do the Father’s will.” He has been preparing her for the very thing she asked for, and now it requires a response. We can love receiving from Him and still be reluctant when He asks us to move beyond what has become familiar. I remember the Lord dealing with me about something years ago. I did not feel that I had all my dots lined up. I was unsure about myself and about other people who would be involved. The Lord said, “How long are you going to put this off? Start doing it. I will work from there.” Does that sound familiar?
Notice how the beloved speaks as he calls her forward. She is still his darling, his beautiful one. There is affection in those words. Will you allow Jesus to speak to you about how He feels toward you? So much of our view of ourselves can be shaped by other people, by the devil, or by our own judgments. As we receive His affection, we gain strength to respond. He knows what still needs to change, and He calls us to follow Him while that work continues.
Both Eyes on Jesus
In Song of Songs 2:14, the beloved calls her into the clefts of the rock, into the secret place of the steep pathway. He wants to see her form and hear her voice. Picture that pathway. It takes some effort to get there, and it may not look especially inviting to the flesh or the emotions. Yet in this application, I hear His invitation: “Get alone with Me. Let Me hear your voice. I want you to open yourself to Me.”
He calls her his dove. I use that picture to speak of a heart focused on Him—both eyes on Jesus. We can become so occupied with the difficulty, the worry, or the accusing thought that we hardly attend to Him at all. Yet we can turn toward Him while there are still things in our lives that need to change. Your desire for Jesus matters to Him. There is beauty in a heart that chooses Him, repents, and keeps coming. Do not let the presence of a struggle persuade you that your love for Him has no value.
There is a discipline involved in making room to meet with Him. A quiet time can help us become still and attentive, but do not turn it into the eleventh commandment! If you miss one, do not immediately decide that you are unworthy and may as well give up. The purpose is relationship. I want to go into that secret place, and I also want my heart to remain available to Him when I am busy. In the middle of life, I can turn my attention toward Jesus and begin to respond to Him.
Alive and Learning to Walk in Freedom
Think about Lazarus when Jesus raised him from the dead (John 11:38–44). He came out of the tomb alive, but he was still bound in grave clothes. Jesus told the people around him to unbind him and let him go. That gives us a helpful picture of the new birth and the freedom that needs to follow. The life was real, and there were still things that needed to come off. In the same way, patterns, reactions, and ways of thinking may still need to change in us. We acknowledge them and take responsibility for our actions while learning to live from the new life Jesus has given us.
Paul tells believers to consider themselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus (Romans 6:11). That is part of how we learn to come before Him. Instead of presenting only our problems, we can say, “Jesus, here I am. I am Yours. The Father has made me new inside for You. I am opening to You as the person You have made me.” This gives us no permission to excuse sin or reject His lordship. We fear the Lord. When He speaks, we respond. Relationship with Jesus includes letting Him rule in our lives, and He intends to bring us into freedom.
Sometimes a person is so oppressed or wounded that even turning toward Him seems difficult. If that is where you are, let people help you. Keep showing up where His people are, and receive their ministry in His presence. There is compassion for you in this process. Do not turn an invitation to intimacy into another reason to condemn yourself. The Lord knows how to shepherd you, and He can work through His people as He brings you forward.
Arise and Go with Him
As the song continues, the maiden does not immediately go with her beloved. Later, she describes seeking him on her bed without finding him. Finally, she says she will arise and seek him (Song of Songs 3:1–2). After all that, she gets up! There are seasons of resting and receiving, and there are times when the Lord calls us to take a step. What He has been imparting prepares us for what comes next. We need to receive His love and then respond to the One who loves us.
Let us practice that response. You do not need special words or a formula. Begin with the choice of your heart: “Jesus, I want to run together with You and do the Father’s will.” Then let the other things step aside for a moment. I sometimes put it this way: “Excuse me. Excuse me. Here I am, Jesus. I am Yours, for Your pleasure and Your delight.” You are turning your attention toward Him and opening your heart. You can do that quietly, in your own words, right in the middle of your day.
“Jesus, I love You. I believe what You say about me. Thank You for the life You have given me and for the work You are doing in me. Help me receive Your love and follow when You call. Here I am. I am Yours.” Every time you turn toward Him, His eyes are already on you. You do not have to make Him begin paying attention. Keep your eyes on Him, receive what He is giving, and when He says to arise and come along, go with Him.
Adapted from a message shared at Jubilee Christian Center on October 18, 2026.
#SongOfSolomon #DrawMeAfterYou #HisBelovedYours #DivinelyLoved #KnowHisVoice
Have you ever wanted to follow Jesus more closely, yet found yourself preoccupied with everything that still needs to change in you? You love Him. You want to do the Father’s will. But when you look at yourself, the hurts, the struggles, and the things you have not overcome seem to take up the whole picture. How do we move forward from there? As we walk with Jesus, He teaches us to receive His love, recognize what He has made new within us, and respond when He calls us into something more.
The Song of Songs gives us a beautiful picture of that process. On its natural level, it is a song about human love. In the spiritual application I am making, the king pictures Jesus as our Shepherd, our Bridegroom, and our King, while the maiden pictures the believer. Reading it this way, we see something of how He draws us, establishes us in His love, and prepares us to follow Him. We are also looking at the relationship from the King’s viewpoint. What does He see in His beloved? What delights Him? Those questions can change the way we come to Jesus.
Learning to See Yourself as He Sees You
At the beginning of the song, the maiden is drawn by the king’s beauty, yet she is painfully aware of her own condition. She describes herself as dark, yet lovely (Song of Songs 1:5). In the picture I am drawing from this passage, there is something beautiful in her, but her difficulties dominate the way she sees herself. We can recognize that in our own lives. There can be a real love for Jesus and, at the same time, agitation, anger, bitterness, or hurt. When those things become the first and loudest things we say about ourselves, it is difficult to come to Him with confidence.
But notice how the king addresses her. He calls her the most beautiful among women (Song of Songs 1:8). In this spiritual application, I hear the Lord speaking to the desire of her heart: “Your hunger for Me is beautiful. Your desire for Me matters to Me.” That does not mean the difficulties are imaginary or that nothing needs to change. It means He sees more than the difficulties. He sees a heart turning toward Him, and that response is precious to Him.
As the song continues, he calls her a lily among thorns (Song of Songs 2:2). Think about what thorns do. They keep things from coming too close. In this application, they picture the self-protection we sometimes put around our hearts: “Do not come in here. Do not touch that.” Yet He sees her opening to Him. You do not discover that about yourself simply by examining everything that is wrong. You need to receive how He sees you. A problem can be real without being the whole truth about you, and receiving His love helps you grow beyond what has held you.
Giving His Work Time to Grow
There are seasons when the Lord has us rest in what He is giving us. In my application of Song of Songs 2:7, I see Him protecting the tender work He is doing in His beloved. Something is taking root. She needs time to receive it and become established in it. We need to be careful with one another in those seasons. When someone is just beginning to receive from Jesus, that is no time to point out everything he or she is doing wrong. Pay attention to what the Lord is doing, and give Him room to establish His work.
We also need that patience with ourselves. Walking with Jesus is personal. My wife is not a formula. I cannot reduce our relationship to, “If I do this and that, she will be happy.” I have to know her. There is a real person there! In the same way, we learn to know Jesus, hear His voice, and respond to Him. Jesus said that His sheep hear His voice, that He knows them, and that they follow Him (John 10:27). Biblical principles help guide us, but we are learning to walk with the Lord Himself.
As the maiden grows, she becomes more sensitive to her beloved’s approach. In Song of Songs 2:8, she recognizes him coming over the mountains and hills. In this picture, I see Jesus coming in the power and freedom of His resurrection life. Some of our difficulties seem like hills we are tired of climbing. Others look like mountains we cannot get over at all. Yet He comes in a life to which those mountains present no obstacle. Through our relationship with Him, He works His life into us. You cannot put a cake in the oven at six hundred degrees and make the process better by baking it faster! There is a process, and it is worth it.
When He Calls You Beyond the Familiar
Then something changes. In Song of Songs 2:9, the beloved is standing outside, looking through the windows and peering through the lattice. He has come, but he has not come inside to sit with her as before. Now he says, “Arise, my darling, my beautiful one, and come along” (Song of Songs 2:10). In the spiritual application, it is as though Jesus is saying, “I have had you rest in what I was giving you. Now there is something new, and you need to come with Me.”
Earlier, she had asked to be drawn after him so that they could run together (Song of Songs 1:4). That is like our prayer, “Jesus, I want to run with You and do the Father’s will.” He has been preparing her for the very thing she asked for, and now it requires a response. We can love receiving from Him and still be reluctant when He asks us to move beyond what has become familiar. I remember the Lord dealing with me about something years ago. I did not feel that I had all my dots lined up. I was unsure about myself and about other people who would be involved. The Lord said, “How long are you going to put this off? Start doing it. I will work from there.” Does that sound familiar?
Notice how the beloved speaks as he calls her forward. She is still his darling, his beautiful one. There is affection in those words. Will you allow Jesus to speak to you about how He feels toward you? So much of our view of ourselves can be shaped by other people, by the devil, or by our own judgments. As we receive His affection, we gain strength to respond. He knows what still needs to change, and He calls us to follow Him while that work continues.
Both Eyes on Jesus
In Song of Songs 2:14, the beloved calls her into the clefts of the rock, into the secret place of the steep pathway. He wants to see her form and hear her voice. Picture that pathway. It takes some effort to get there, and it may not look especially inviting to the flesh or the emotions. Yet in this application, I hear His invitation: “Get alone with Me. Let Me hear your voice. I want you to open yourself to Me.”
He calls her his dove. I use that picture to speak of a heart focused on Him—both eyes on Jesus. We can become so occupied with the difficulty, the worry, or the accusing thought that we hardly attend to Him at all. Yet we can turn toward Him while there are still things in our lives that need to change. Your desire for Jesus matters to Him. There is beauty in a heart that chooses Him, repents, and keeps coming. Do not let the presence of a struggle persuade you that your love for Him has no value.
There is a discipline involved in making room to meet with Him. A quiet time can help us become still and attentive, but do not turn it into the eleventh commandment! If you miss one, do not immediately decide that you are unworthy and may as well give up. The purpose is relationship. I want to go into that secret place, and I also want my heart to remain available to Him when I am busy. In the middle of life, I can turn my attention toward Jesus and begin to respond to Him.
Alive and Learning to Walk in Freedom
Think about Lazarus when Jesus raised him from the dead (John 11:38–44). He came out of the tomb alive, but he was still bound in grave clothes. Jesus told the people around him to unbind him and let him go. That gives us a helpful picture of the new birth and the freedom that needs to follow. The life was real, and there were still things that needed to come off. In the same way, patterns, reactions, and ways of thinking may still need to change in us. We acknowledge them and take responsibility for our actions while learning to live from the new life Jesus has given us.
Paul tells believers to consider themselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus (Romans 6:11). That is part of how we learn to come before Him. Instead of presenting only our problems, we can say, “Jesus, here I am. I am Yours. The Father has made me new inside for You. I am opening to You as the person You have made me.” This gives us no permission to excuse sin or reject His lordship. We fear the Lord. When He speaks, we respond. Relationship with Jesus includes letting Him rule in our lives, and He intends to bring us into freedom.
Sometimes a person is so oppressed or wounded that even turning toward Him seems difficult. If that is where you are, let people help you. Keep showing up where His people are, and receive their ministry in His presence. There is compassion for you in this process. Do not turn an invitation to intimacy into another reason to condemn yourself. The Lord knows how to shepherd you, and He can work through His people as He brings you forward.
Arise and Go with Him
As the song continues, the maiden does not immediately go with her beloved. Later, she describes seeking him on her bed without finding him. Finally, she says she will arise and seek him (Song of Songs 3:1–2). After all that, she gets up! There are seasons of resting and receiving, and there are times when the Lord calls us to take a step. What He has been imparting prepares us for what comes next. We need to receive His love and then respond to the One who loves us.
Let us practice that response. You do not need special words or a formula. Begin with the choice of your heart: “Jesus, I want to run together with You and do the Father’s will.” Then let the other things step aside for a moment. I sometimes put it this way: “Excuse me. Excuse me. Here I am, Jesus. I am Yours, for Your pleasure and Your delight.” You are turning your attention toward Him and opening your heart. You can do that quietly, in your own words, right in the middle of your day.
“Jesus, I love You. I believe what You say about me. Thank You for the life You have given me and for the work You are doing in me. Help me receive Your love and follow when You call. Here I am. I am Yours.” Every time you turn toward Him, His eyes are already on you. You do not have to make Him begin paying attention. Keep your eyes on Him, receive what He is giving, and when He says to arise and come along, go with Him.
Adapted from a message shared at Jubilee Christian Center on October 18, 2026.
#SongOfSolomon #DrawMeAfterYou #HisBelovedYours #DivinelyLoved #KnowHisVoice
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Truly, this is a most wondrous testimony of the tender mercies and unfathomable love of our Lord Jesus Christ, who looks upon His own with gracious favor and regards them as precious in His sight, for they are the beloved of His heart and the cherished possession of His hand.