“If you yourself do not know,
Most beautiful among women,
Go forth on the trail of the flock
And pasture your young goats
By the tents of the shepherds.”
– Song of Songs 1:8
We need to realize that the Lord’s nourishment and rest for us can be found not only through our pursuit of the Lord directly, but also from the spiritual experiences of other brothers and sisters. Today the flock has gone quite a distance, leaving many footsteps for us to follow. What we need to do is to go forth in these footsteps of the flock.
It is wrong to think that today we are the peak of the Lord’s work and that what the saints did before is of little importance. We may be laboring at a different stage in the Lord’s recovery of His testimony, but the principles of life have not changed. To follow the Lord, we need to learn from the life experiences of those who are ahead of us and who have gone before us. If we are faithful and willing, we will experience what these saints have experienced before. Thus, we have to receive from those who have gone before and learn what they have learned before us. The Lord wants to save us from work into life, and in just the same manner that He has shepherded His lovers in the past, so will He shepherd us today.
Adapted from The Song of Songs: A Divine Romance, pages 45-46.
Monday: “Go Forth” (4)