Bible Verse: “Many waters cannot quench love; rivers cannot sweep it away. If one were to give all the wealth of one’s house for love, it would be utterly scorned.” (Song of Songs 8:7 NIV)
Scripture Reading: Song of Songs 8:1-14
It’s no wonder that occupations like firefighter or police officer or superhero are the dream occupations of many young men (at least they were when I was a tot). There is something undeniably heroic about those jobs.
Firefighters and police officers run toward danger. In threatening situations—buildings ablaze or bad people doing bad things—self-preservation instincts urge us to run away. But their training and their commitment (and perhaps something innately within them) push them toward the danger. They are the ones running against the fleeing crowds.
It would be fascinating to hear from them what their feelings are in moments like that.
Do they want to run away but choose to run toward? Conviction, calling, and training all compel them to move forward.
The picture of love captured in Song of Songs suggests that love works the same way.
Love is a commitment that is refined and honed by training and held by conviction.
When pressures squeeze us—stress, conflict, disappointment—it’s tempting to pull back, shut down, or walk away. Our instincts may be screaming at us to do just that.
But love the way God intended it doesn’t retreat under the crush; it moves closer.
Love peers into the darkness and takes the time needed for vision to adjust. Love refuses to quit, no matter how late in the game and regardless of the score.
Today’s verse describes that kind of love. Love that is strong, tested, and unshakable—not fragile, not present only when it’s convenient, not expressed in hopes of a return.
And that’s the kind of love men are called to live out.
The opening two lines of verse 7 speak not just to the strength and resiliency of love (“rivers cannot sweep it away”). But they speak of the passion and fire that love can ignite. There is great passion envisioned in a fire that cannot be quenched by many waters. It is an inferno that rages against even the strongest attempts to extinguish it.
The love we want is the love we are called to give. A man’s love should be able to burn hot through the fiercest of downpours.
Prayer: God, I confess that far too often my love is nothing but a flicker that can be extinguished by the slightest drip. Help me to kindle a flame of love that burns beyond and through the circumstances and feelings that seek to smother it. Let me love the way You love me. Amen.
Reflection: How resilient is your love? How frequently is it extinguished and needs to be kindled again? How can you rekindle it?
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