DEVOTION: "The mandrakes give a smell, and at our gates are all manner of pleasant fruits, new and old, which I have laid up for thee, O my beloved."(Song of Solomon 7:13)

"The mandrakes give a smell, and at our gates are all manner of pleasant fruits, new and old, which I have laid up for thee, O my beloved."(Song of Solomon 7:13)

"The new and the old"   In this book, Solomon is referred to as "The Beloved" and his lover is referred to as "My Love".   In this verse there is an aroma of pleasant fruits at the gates of the city. If you will notice, the fruit is new and old. The old fruit refers to our past which, regardless of what it is, it has shaped us into whatever we are today. In real time, we are what we are but there is new fruit to be borne of us. We must enter the gate of the future, the morrow cometh, so we must run to meet it with hope and expectation.  At this point in Solomon's relationship with his "Love", she hasn't understood every experience but yet she says, with confidence, "I am my beloved's, and his desire is toward me."(SS 7:10). She continues her statement of hope and confidence by saying,  "Come,  my beloved, let us go forth into the field; let us lodge in the villages.  Let us get up early to the vineyards; let us see if the vine flourish,  whether the tender grape appear,  and the pomegranates bud forth:  there will I give thee my loves."(SS 7:11-12). It is a new day in a new year, let's run to meet it with the Love of God in our hearts. We are told that LOVE never fails so if we become the expression of God's Love in the earth, we cannot fail.  "Charity never faileth:"(1 Corinthians 13:8a). She was so in love with Solomon that she was desperate when not in His presence. She was addicted to him and he was addicted to her.  If you read the book in its entirety, you will notice that they move from one experience to another but at first she hesitates because she is so attached to the experience of their relationship that she doesn't want to move on to the new day!! As their relationship progresses she realizes that He is more important than an experience. Our experiences change, so enjoy them but don't get attached. Religions are built by people trying to re-play an old experience that was wonderful but in the past. When He moves, move with Him! Experiences are bound by time which is restricted to moments but He has no boundaries nor restrictions. Let's  enter the new year in the freedom of Christ, free from the law of sin, free to follow His vision for our lives. We mustn't allow the disapproval of others to hold us captive in some time frame, a mental snap shot of us from ten years ago or even yesterday.  Please don't allow someone else's image of you to define or identify who you are at present and especially not in your  future!!
"Behold, I will do a new thing; now it shall spring forth;  shall ye not know it?"(Isaiah 43:19)  It's going to be good!!

Scott L. Boatner