Song of Songs 7:12 –
Let us get up early and go to the vineyards to see if the grapevines have budded, if the blossoms have opened, and if the pomegranates have bloomed. There I will give you my love.
Ok I am going in two directions here as far as relationships go. First is with your loved one, think about when the last time you got up early and just spent time together, either discussing things over a cup of coffee or walking through the garden? If you can’t answer that question maybe it’s time to go back and focus on the simple things. In today’s society we can be with someone and at the same time be communicating with multiple other people via cell, email and text. Sometimes that actually teaches us to disconnect with the person we are with.
Think about when you are with anyone, not just the one you love, and you phone rings or it “bings” for a text or email. Do you immediately grab for the phone or remain engaged with the one you are with? I say this more as a guilty party than a judgmental one, since I have been disconnected from society for decades; the iPhone has just made it much easier. This is really important when you are with other people, especially the one you love; try to focus on being attentive to them and not your phone. If you need to take walks without the distraction, leave your phone at home! Believe it or not we use to take weeks for letters to arrive and then get a response back, an hour is not going to hurt you.
Now the other “relationship” this should apply to is your one with God. I have found it easiest to wake up well before anyone else would and spend time walking through the “garden” with God. It’s a great time to pray and read without any distractions. Believe it or not, you don’t usually get texts at 5am!! Now I have also learned to “walk away from the computer” during this time, since I often found myself getting caught up on emails, Facebook and Twitter more than spending time with God. It’s funny how I notice this when others are doing it to me, but I completely ignore it when I am doing it to others, including God!
The key out of this verse is spend time away from other distractions with the one you love. After 22 years Katy and I still learn new things about each other. One of our “games” during date night is to tell a story or a secret we haven’t told each other. Boy that has been fun and surprising since we started that and it tough us to focus on the other person. Now that’s a game you have a difficult time doing to God, but read His word and He surprises you frequently with stuff you didn’t know, realize or understand.