Soul Suitor

There was this attractive brunette I wanted to date. Once I had voiced my interest, she said something to the effect that she did not want to be one of several women I was dating. That arrangement did not appeal to her. Guess what? With that one comment she swept away all the competition! (This alone tells you something about how the competition compared to one fair young maiden, doesn’t it?) I responded in words like these, “You are the only one I am really interested in.” We progressed from the clarity of that mutually understood perspective toward an enduring, exclusive relationship sealed with public pledges and golden rings.

How many marriage proposals do you imagine begin with the assertion that the suitor would like to include the potential spouse among the many individuals they wish to marry? It sounds more like a declaration of disinterest than one of heart-felt devotion. Anybody who cannot make up their mind any more exactly than that is not ready for the commitments of marriage.

These ramblings have described something of the courtship of the heart. What about the courtship of the soul?

There comes a time in each of our lives, whether we recognize it or not, when we say to God, “I would like to include you in my world,” and His retort is a measured reply in which he says, “Not if I am merely one of many with which you still wish to share your soul.”

We have experienced some degree of fascination. We find Him attractive. We would welcome Him farther into our thoughts and activities. But there are conditions which must be met if we are to advance this relationship.

It is at this juncture that way too many would be wooers stumble. Evaluating ourselves as such a fine catch, we immediately resist the offer of an early and meaningful obligation to undivided loyalty. We have many who are interested in us. The pleasure of a life filled with alluring partners charms us.

Here is what we miss: there really is no competition. For all our private confidence to the contrary we own no true support for our elevated opinion of our selves or our low opinion of God. It is not so that God would be lucky to have us. Just the opposite; we are outrageously blessed if we have Him.

When God states that it is time for an all-or-nothing connection, we could do no finer than to responded, “You are the only one I am really interested in.” Wedded bliss is just exactly that. Few realities in life can compare and only one exceeds. Peace with God.

Tim Gramly
Education Pastor
South Haven Baptist Church
Belton, Missouri
September 17, 2009