Song of Songs 2:10-13
10 My beloved spake, and said unto me,
Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away.
11 For, lo, the winter is past,
the rain is over and gone;
12 The flowers appear on the earth;
the time of the singing of birds is come, and the voice of the turtle is heard in our land;
13 The fig tree putteth forth her green figs,
and the vines with the tender grape give a good smell.
Arise, my love, my fair one, and come away. (KJV)
It has been 3 verses of Scripture since the Shulamite has been in close enough range to hear her beloved speak. In verse seven she could hear his voice but it seems it was a low indistinct voice, she saw him in the distance leaping upon the hills and behind the wall and through the window but now she hears him distinctly. He calls her to rise up, get up from where you are, and come with me. Notice the tender care that he calls her with, "My love, my fair one." I was reminded of how my father would wake me up in the mornings as a boy. He would come in the room, switch on the lights, call my name and say "feet in the floor." We had a busy day's work ahead of us and we needed to get going. My father was loving but he did not have the most loving wake-up calls. He wasn't waking me up for communion with him but to work with him. This call that comes to the Shulamite is not a call to work but a call to walk, that is what the words "come away" mean, to walk. He was saying come and walk with me. He came in as a husband would wake his wife, reminding her that she is the object of his affection and wants to spend those early morning hours with her before the day's work begins.
This is so true of our Lord. How many mornings has he woke you from your sleep and immediately filled your heart with his love, filled your experience with his presence? He comes and says rise up my love, my fair one and come away. Christ is calling us to a closer walk with him. I am most interested in the words "come away." That is one word in Hebrew and means walk. This same word was used in Genesis 12:1 when God called Abraham out of Ur of the Chaldees and said "Get thee out" it was the same word used when God called Moses in Exodus 4:12 and says "Now therefore Go." That is the instruction given to the Shulamite in our verses today and that instruction is surrounded by a million reasons to go with him.
As God called Abraham and Moses and many others to walk with him so has he called us NT believers to walk with him. "We walk by faith not by sight." We are surrounded by a million reasons as to why we should walk with him. He as opened our eyes put his affection upon us and now He wants us to walk with him in the cool of the day. Don't let those morning hours of the day pass you by without walking with the Lord. When he calls you from sleep don't roll over and shun him, "Rise up." In the early hours of life, while you still have the zeal and energy of your youth walk with him, the time is now, the season is right he is calling. I can assure you, you will never regret wiping the sleep from your eyes and communing with Him.
We have spoken of seasons, seasons of close communion with God and seasons of seeming coldness, all sorts of seasons but in our verses, the seasons have changed. Winter is over, Spring has sprung, the birds are in the air the time for cultivation is here, the winter winds that once blew and kept you trapped inside your home has ceased, come out see the Sun and fruits beginning to blossom. Christ would have us come away, that is to walk with him, on these walks he can show you the fields that need cultivating, the fruits that can be born, on these walks we can draw instruction, communion, light. As the sun rises and sheds light the dark areas become lightened, the pathway grows clearer and clearer and the face of the one with whom you walk becomes clearer. So is our walk with the Lord, Rise now, walk with Him, He can shed light on the dark areas of confusion in your life, he can shed light on the pathways of decision you have to trod and the greatest benefit of all will be getting a clearer view of him, then we can follow that instruction given to us, "Looking unto Him the author and finisher of our faith."
The Holy Spirit finishes this portion of Scripture the same way he started in "Arise, my love, my fair one and come away." So will we end the same way we began. Wipe the sleep from your eyes this morning and the next and the next and spend it with him. Draw insight, instruction, and fellowship, and your days will be brighter, wiser, and more bearable.
"Rise up my love, my fair one and come away."