SCRIPTURE: Song of Solomon 2
OBSERVATION/APPLICATION:
He has taken me to the banquet hall, and his banner over me is love. [Song 2:4]
Daughters of Jerusalem, I charge you by the gazelles and by the does of the field: Do not arouse or awaken love until it so desires. Listen! My lover! Look! Here he comes, leaping across the mountains, bounding over the hills. [Song 2:7-8]
This girl is ‘in love’, as we would say it today.
In Jewish custom, the bridegroom would come to the brides home and escort her to the wedding banquet.
The bride would wait with eager longing for his arrival, accompanied by her close friends (maids of honour, the daughters of Jerusalem).
This girl is definitely eager, and she seems to urge her friends to wait for ‘Mr Right’, and not to rush into a relationship “until it so desires”.
I think that is what she is saying anyway…

But while they were on their way to buy the oil, the bridegroom arrived. The virgins who were ready went in with him to the wedding banquet. And the door was shut. Later the others also came. ‘Sir! Sir!’ they said. ‘Open the door for us!’ “But he replied, ‘I tell you the truth, I don’t know you.’ [Matthew 25:10-12]
Jesus uses the marriage analogy when He talks about being ready.
The ten virgins (maids of honour, daughters of Jerusalem) are with their friend, waiting for the bridegroom – though it seems five of them are not really that eager or committed to this.
They choose not to get ready with sufficient oil, which is not just an accidental oversight, this is a callous disregard for their friend.
And when the time comes, their disinterest in the whole affair leads them to miss out on the celebration.

Now this story seems strange and harsh in our own context, but in the Jewish culture it likely made more sense.
Could it be like members of a bridal party today not renting their tuxes or fitting their dresses, not making a point to be there for the rehearsal, showing up late for the wedding, then still expecting to be at the dinner?
By this point, the married couple would not be eager to let them join in.

Whether for marriage, or for a relationship with the Lord, a half-hearted, callous attitude will quickly undermine the bond.
In all our relationships, if we do not love the people we ought to love, things will not go well, they will become dysfunctional, and eventually the person may say, “I tell you the truth, I don’t know you!”
Harsh, or just plain reality – how many kids don’t know their dads, because they are never around, or distracted when they are?

Compare your love with this young girl, then with the 5 maids of honour?
Are you taken someone for granted, not paying attention, not eager and ready to love and be with them?

PRAYER:
Lord, Your banner over me is love… what about my banner? Can people see or read my love for You, for my wife, for my kids or for others?