Drunk on love

[The wife of your youth is] “a lovely deer, a graceful doe. Let her breasts fill you at all times with delight; be intoxicated always in her love.”
-Proverbs 5:19

My wife’s alma mater is in a rather undeveloped area of Laredo. Basically, it’s the school and some wilderness around there. That will change in time, but for now it’s a wonderfully peaceful place. There are deer all over the campus, and if you drive around in the mornings or evenings, you will see them in the grass, eating or resting. One night we sat in the car, just watching one particular doe walk around. There is something magnificently beautiful about deer. They are amazingly graceful, strong, vibrant, and, frankly, cute.

Solomon picks up on these characteristics when talking about our wives. See, he’s already talked about sexuality as a fountain that should remain clean. Now he will speak of it with a metaphor of animals. Don’t go messing around with other women, he is saying, because something really wonderful is waiting for you at home.

This is sex the way God intended it. He is not a prude who forbids us from enjoying ourselves in that way. He created sex to be enjoyed. The trouble is not that people concentrate too much on sex – it’s that they think to lowly of it.

Sex within a Christian marriage is something beautiful, graceful, satisfying, intoxicating, pure, refreshing, and spiritual. It is the joining of two into one. God’s intention for sex is so much better than we ever consider.

We often reduce sex to just something satisfying, leaving off all of the things that make it truly wonderful. When it is only something to do to be satisfied, our view of sex becomes very cheap. It becomes very small.

And that’s the sin of it – we are taking something that God has given as a gift, to be experienced and enjoyed in a loving and spiritual way, and dragging it through the gutter. We are taking this thing He has given, something so big and wonderful that it can barely be explained, and making it small.

A lot of us have cheapened it in the past. Some of us are doing so right now. It’s not too late for you. This sin does not have to ruin everything. It’s interesting that Ephesians 5 describes a marriage as a symbol of Jesus’ love for the Church. Think about that, because one party in that marriage is pure and innocent – Jesus. The other party is unworthy, unclean, and defiled. That’s us – the Church.

It is Christ who cleans us. By His Blood He washes away our sins. He does not turn away His bride because of her sins, but cleans her, dresses her in fine clothes, purifies her, and marries her.

We have all sinned in the past, but in repentance and faith we can be forgiven and washed clean. In the same way, it is not too late to repent of sexual sins. Whether you are having sex before marriage, or committing adultery within a marriage, or looking at porn, or are a practicing homosexual, it doesn’t matter. Repent for the forgiveness of sins. Repent and be washed clean.

If you are married, go home and enjoy your spouse. Be intoxicated by her, and let her fill you with delight.

See? Who said reading the Bible wasn’t inspiring?