“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
If we desire to serve the Lord and to be His Bride, we need to make up that which is lacking, for sufferings upon the earth are still necessary before His building work is completed.
The Lord wants us to fellowship with His sufferings. His sufferings must be constituted into us to become our reality. Brothers and sisters, we need to be willing to go deeper. Even after becoming so one with the Lord, we still have to tell Him continually, “O Lord, I am not satisfied with my situation. I have to have more growth.”
Adapted from The Journey of Life, pages 246-247.
Monday: “The Call to Know the Cross More Deeply” (5)