Wednesday, February 13, 2008

Song of Solomon good for Valentine's, but quote the right verse!

It's Valentine's Day, when everybody talks about love. However, some of us fail to communicate.

A cake decorator in New Zealand was asked to include the reference to a Bible verse on the couple’s wedding cake. They requested 1 John 4:18 because it states, “There is no fear in love, but perfect love drives out fear.” Unfortunately, the cake decorator wasn’t a Bible scholar so the cake ended up with a reference to John’s gospel instead of his epistle. In beautiful print was “John 4:18.” Had the decorator taken time to look up the verse this error would have been detected before the wedding. “You have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband.”

I heard about a man who was feeling bad that he had not been romantic. So he decided to show up at his door with a coat and tie and give his wife flowers. He rang the doorbell, and when she answered, there he was in all his glory, as he handed her a dozen roses. To his surprise, she sat down in the doorway and just cried.

"What's wrong, honey?" he asked.

She replied, "This has been a terrible day. Rachel came home from school sick, Daniel broke a window with his baseball, the microwave won't work, and now you come home drunk!"

Even though our attempts are communicating love can sometimes be misunderstood, we should still make every effort to express our love. The Bible has an entire book, Song of Solomon, that is dedicated to the celebration of romance between a husband and wife. I know a fellow who often reads verses from the Song of Solomon to his wife. Not a bad idea. Just make sure that you read the right verse. Song of Solomon 4:9 would work: "You have captured my heart with one glance of your eyes." But you don't want to read to her from Song of Solomon 7:4: "Your nose is like the tower of Lebanon looking toward Damascus."

Make sure you communicate your love clearly.

Copyright 2008 by Bob Rogers.