January 30
White & Red
“My beloved is white and ruddy” —Song of Solomon 5:10
Read Song of Solomon 5:1-10
Do you understand our text? Listen to what is going on in this portion of Scripture. In verse 2 we read: “Open to me.” These words are Christ’s invitation to His church. However, she answers, “Not now, Lord; I do not feel like it. I would rather go to bed and sleep.” Then we read that Christ left her, having pulled His hand from the door latch.
Meanwhile, the bride felt uneasy and regretted her actions, so she opened the door after all. But the Bridegroom was gone. And so without hesitation, she begins to search for him in the streets. When passersby ask her what is so special about her Bridegroom, she answers: “My beloved is white and ruddy” (v. 10).
White symbolizes innocence. Ruddy, in the original, actually denotes red, referring to Christ’s blood shed on the cross. White describes His beauty and purity, being of God, while red denotes His human nature. These words reveal to us what it cost the Lord Jesus to be sent to this earth by the Father. He bore the wrath of God that we deserved. In Gethsemane He shed great drops of blood.
The Form for the Lord’s Supper states it this way: “God pressed out of Him the bloody sweat in the garden, where He was bound that we might be freed from our sins; that He afterward suffered innumerable reproaches, that we might never be confounded; that He was innocently condemned to death that we might be acquitted at the judgment seat of God; yea, that He suffered His blessed body to be nailed on the cross – that He might fix thereon the handwriting of our sins, and hath also taken upon Himself the curse due to us, that He might fill us with His blessings.” He cried out upon the cross, “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” (Mark 15:34). This cry meant that we never need to be forsaken. Do you still dare to remain unconverted?
What do you experience when the Lord passes you by?
This devotional was taken from “The Time of Your Life” a daily devotional published by the Youth & Educational Committee of the FRC. To order a printed copy of this book, contact: bookorders@frcna.org.