“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
In Song of Songs 5:2, we see that the Shulammite has truly grown in life. In saying, “I was asleep but my heart was awake,” it is evident that she has ceased from her own work. Now her own work and life have ceased. She is like one who is asleep; there is no further activity, work, endeavoring, or struggle. She is perfectly at rest. However, she is not truly asleep. Outwardly she is sleeping, but inwardly she is exercised. Her heart is awake. Her inner man is still very active.
Adapted from The Journey of Life, page 247.
Tomorrow: “The Call to Know the Cross More Deeply” (6)