Unripened Fruit
I charge you, O daughters of Jerusalem, By the gazelles or by the does of the field, do not stir up nor awaken love until it pleases. Song of Solomon 2:7
God created the love between a husband and wife unlike any other relationship. It is the sweetest of all as it embodies the relationship of friends and lovers. It is a covenant that binds man and woman, body and soul.
However, secular society has downplayed the sexual relationship to be shared only by husband and wife as outdated. Sex is something casually talked about by high school students – as casual as talking about a first kiss. It’s almost unheard of to be a virgin on your wedding day.
But God created sex to be a blessing for a husband and wife to enjoy. This verse warns not to stir up nor awaken love until it pleases. For example, have you plucked an apple from its branch too soon? It looked good from the outside, but when you took a bite, the bitterness from the unripened fruit made you spit out any trace of the fruit from your mouth.
On the other hand, fruit fully ripened is delicious! We had a wild raspberry bush in the backyard of my childhood home. There was nothing better than plucking a raspberry off the bush when it was so plump that it was ready to fall off. I couldn’t get enough of the sun-warmed berries. I learned the benefit of waiting for the fruit to be fully ripe.
Sexual relationships are a lot the same. Sex as a teenager or outside of marriage looks like that unripened apple. It looks good from the outside – very desirable. But as soon as you take part, you find it’s not what you expected. Although it’s hard to wait for marriage, I can tell you that it is well worth it!
Dear Lord, thank you for creating such a wonderful gift between a husband and wife. Help us not be swayed by the world’s philosophy about sex, but to keep our hearts pure as you intended. Amen.