This week as we are reading Song of Songs, I realized how personal the tone of these passages are. As the dialogue goes back and forth filled with exclamation points you can feel the relationship building. When Jon and I first started dating, I felt pursued as we began to get to know each other. Initially there was fear opening up to someone, but now 10 years later there is freedom in our relationship, and peace as we feel known by one another and loved despite knowing all the good, bad, and the ugly. Similarly God pursues us. He is patient. He is personal. He is purposeful. He is captivated by His people, the Church. And His desire is for us to know Him and the love he has for us. I can feel Him urging us to step into the freedom of having a personal rather than transactional relationship with him. One with dialogue, time spent getting to know His character, filled with honesty, and overflowing with gratitude and compliments. When we are vulnerable we sometimes expect rejection, but He does the opposite and declares us good and righteous in His sight. We belong to Him. We are His beloved and He is ours!