GIDDY AS A SCHOOLBOY

GIDDY AS A SCHOOLBOY

Song 1:2 Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth—
For your love is better than wine.

There are all sorts of kisses in our world. There is the kiss for the little baby that no one can quite resist. Then there is the kiss between family members, my dad wanted to kiss all of us kids until it got quite embarrassing. There is the kiss of comfort (you know, when mom kisses the bobo). Then there is the goodbye kiss, the hello kiss, the good night kiss, the romantic kiss, and of course the first kiss. Then there is the kiss of death, you know, like the kiss Judas gave to The Lord. The greatest of all these kisses is the kiss of love from our Father in heaven. He loves us and showers us with His heavenly kisses. Check out Matthew Henry on the kisses of God.

“Let him give me ten thousand kisses whose very fruition makes me desire him more, and, whereas all other pleasures sour and wither by using, those of the Spirit become more delightful.” So bishop Reynolds. She gives several reasons for this desire. Because of the great esteem she has for his love: Thy love is better than wine. Wine makes glad the heart, revives the drooping spirits, and exhilarates them, but gracious souls take more pleasure in loving Christ and being beloved of him, in the fruits and gifts of his love and in the pledges and assurances of it, than any man ever took in the most exquisite delights of sense, and it is more reviving to them than ever the richest cordial was to one ready to faint. Christ’s love is in itself, and in the account of all the saints, more valuable and desirable than the best entertainments this world can give. Those only may expect the kisses of Christ’s mouth, and the comfortable tokens of his favor, who prefer his love before all delights of the children of men, who would rather forego those delights than forfeit his favor, and take more pleasure in spiritual joys than in any bodily refreshments whatsoever.”

Henry is describing a love that comes from a life of intimacy with God. Just as a man longs for his spouse and seems somehow incomplete until he finds her, we also long for another kind of intimacy. We were made for love. Our hearts are hungry for love. The answer to all of life’s questions are discovered in that moment of time when are hearts are awakened to His love. It all starts with the first kiss. In that moment we discover why we were born. Our hearts are longing, or as Augustine said, restless, until that kiss. His kiss brings us into life and love itself. The kiss brings us into His peace. Solomon said that His love is better than wine. Why the comparison? Wine can make someone happy and somewhat giddy. His kiss fills us with joy unspeakable and as Scrooge said “Giddy as a schoolboy”. The first kiss is of course just the beginning, the beginning of a life greater than any of us could ever know.