“I was asleep but my heart was awake.
A voice! My beloved was knocking:
‘Open to me, my sister, my darling,
My dove, my perfect one!
For my head is drenched with dew,
My locks with the damp of the night.’”
— Song of Songs 5:2
Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I do my share on behalf of His body, which is the church, in filling up what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions.
— Colossians 1:24
Now the Lord calls His seeker to walk the same path that He chose to walk. He was misunderstood although He was holy. In like manner, we will be misunderstood although we are sanctified. He was despised although He was God’s glory. We will be despised although we also possess glory. Evil was spoken of Him, although He was meek and lowly. We will also be slandered if we are meek and lowly. It is the Lord’s desire that we enter into the fellowship of His sufferings and fill up what is lacking of the afflictions of Christ.
Adapted from The Journey of Life, page 246.
Tomorrow: “The Call to Know the Cross More Deeply” (3)