Focus: Come Away! (Pt.2)

Text: Song of Sol.2:10

"Rise up my LOVE, my FAIR one, and come away."

Jesus Christ is saying to you, "Rise up my love, my fair one, and come away." We are yet to exhaust that lovely description of what you are to Christ. You are the fair one. You are beautiful in His eyes. You are valuable to Him - a priceless treasure. The Scripture says, "And when the Philistine looked about, and saw David, he disdained him: for he was but a youth, and ruddy, and of a fair countenance" (1Sam.17:42). 

Do you see why the world hate and despise you? They are possessed with the spirit of envy and jealousy. You have what they don't have - righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. You have eternal life and eternal bliss, but they don't, except they change their evil ways and turn to Christ for their salvation.

Goliath disdained David on seeing him as a youth, ruddy, and as someone with a beautiful face and a charming presence. Like David, you are attractive - looking good in the sight of God and promising to Him, and for that, the world disdains you. The world also thinks you are no match when it comes to the art and science of warfare, but what they don't know is that your God is characterized as a man of war, and He has equipped you to fight spiritual battles with a supernatural ammunition. 

Your God never loses a battle. He has a reputation for winning battles and establishing His authority in the world.

We read of Abigail, "Now the name of the man was Nabal; and the name of his wife Abigail: and she was a woman of good understanding, and of a beautiful countenance: but the man was churlish and evil in his doings; and he was of the house of Caleb" (1Sam.25:3). Here we see another contrast. On one hand, Nabal was churlish and evil in his doings, and on the other hand, Abigail was a woman of good understanding and of a beautiful countenance. The man and woman were opposites of each other. 

Of Absalom, we read, "And it came to pass after this, that Absalom the son of David had a FAIR sister, whose name was Tamar; and Amnon the son of David loved her" (2Sam.13:1). Tamar was loved by Amnon for being fair or beautiful. The Word says, "But in all Israel there was none to be so much praised as Absalom for his beauty: from the sole of his foot even to the crown of his head there was no blemish in him" (2Sam.14:25). Absalom and her sister Tamar were known and loved for their peculiar and great beauty. In David's old age, the Scripture says that "they sought for a FAIR damsel throughout all the coasts of Israel, and found Abishag a Shunammite, and brought her to the king" (1Kgs.1:3). Beauty was sought for and found in Israel, and that tells you that real beauty is scarce. Those who seek beauty must look underneath the surface. Beauty is often hidden; we must look deeper to finding it.

As the men of the palace sought for a beautiful lady, they found Abishag. The Scripture says, "And the damsel was VERY FAIR, and cherished the king, and ministered to him…" (1Kgs.1:4). I pray for your beauty to be discovered. Let the world around you find out that you are not just beautiful, but very beautiful!

Of Job's daughters, we read, "And in all the land were no women found so fair as the daughters of Job…" (Jb.42:15). The daughters of Job were the fairest of women in all the land. Your beauty is rare; it is only found in Christ. Let's join the writer of the Songs of Solomon who declared, "O thou FAIREST among women… Thou art ALL FAIR, my love; there is no spot in thee" (Song of Sol.1:8; 4:7). Your beauty is spotless and unblemished. Again we read, "How fair and how pleasant art thou, O love, for delights!" (Song of Sol.7:6).

Your beauty is a wonder. O how fair you are! Let people see you and exclaim, not explain or make excuses.

Let us read about Esther, "And he brought up Hadassah, that is, Esther, his uncle's daughter: for she had neither father nor mother, and the maid was fair and beautiful…" (Esth.2:7). You are "beautiful for situation, the joy of the whole earth, is mount Zion, on the sides of the north, the city of the great King" (Ps.48:2). What a city of feminine beauty! A beautiful city - the home of beautiful people like you and I! 

Child of God, you are beautiful. In the beauty shop of Grace, God has transformed ashes into beauty and nobodies into somebodies. It is no wonder we read in the Song of Solomon, "Who is she that looketh forth as the MORNING, fair as the MOON, clear as the SUN, and terrible as an ARMY with banners?" (Song of Sol.6:10). God says through Ezekiel, "I have made him fair by the multitude of his branches: so that all the trees of Eden, that were in the garden of God, envied him" (Ezk.31:9). You are the envy of all men, and indeed, the envy of the world.

You must ensure that your beauty is total, internal and external. Solomon says, "As a jewel of gold in a swine's snout, so is a fair woman which is without discretion" (Prov.11:22). Beauty and discretion should go together. Sin spoils spiritual beauty and makes it look ugly. Jeremiah says, "The LORD called thy name, A green olive tree, fair, and of goodly fruit: with the noise of a great tumult he hath kindled fire upon it, and the branches of it are broken" (Jer.11:16). Refuse the description of a 'good for nothing beauty.' 

Don't be a person of an ugly character, tasteless behavior, and awful conduct. Keep your moral beauty and lovely purity. Don't be a virgin without wisdom - a senseless virgin or a virgin so fair, and yet very foolish.

Your God is a God of beauty and a maker of it. "He hath made every thing beautiful in his time…"(Eccl.3:11).

Everything He makes is fair. Ugliness is not of God, and He makes nothing ugly. Evil is of the devil. Good is of God, and He is good. Christ says of you, 'You are my love, my fair one.'

by Bishop Moses E. Peter