Take Me Away With You
“Take me away with you—let us hurry! Let the king bring me into his chambers.” –Song of Songs 1:4
I picked up my bible today and began reading Song of Solomon but I couldn’t get past the first few verses. My spirit was flooded with a longing to be swept away by him again. My heart swelled with the desire to be brought into the King’s chamber—into the secret place of intimate communion with him. All I could say, over and over again, was “Take me away with you.”I have quite a history with Jesus in this beautiful Song of all songs, but sadly, I haven’t spent much time there lately. I’ve been far too easily distracted by things that are merely good and, as a result, I have sometimes missed what’s best. Even in his presence, often I’m interceding for someone or something, or seeking revelation for this that or the other thing, or just randomly chattering at him rather than getting lost in his love and enjoying the unfathomable privilege of just being with him. Not a good thing when simply being with him is literally the lifeblood of my existence.
I don’t know how it is for other people but for me it’s simple: When I guard that secret place of communion with him and make it the highest priority of my life—I have everything. Without that—I have nothing. Nothing I want at any rate.
And what I want is him. But I want to want him so much more. Lately, I feel like he is awakening my heart all over again. It’s good—but it is also hard. It’s hard to see that in some ways I haven’t wanted him as I’d like to think I have. It’s hard to see that I am so easily satisfied with so much less of him than he is willing to give me. It’s hard to see that my heart has become just a bit numb in certain places. It’s hard—but it’s also necessary if I truly want to be fully awake and fully alive.
I know what it is like to taste the deep places of his heart. I’ve only tasted a bit—but I’ve tasted enough to know the cost. At times I’ve wanted to retreat to a place of “safety”—just enough of him to satisfy my longing, but not enough to satisfy his. Enough, perhaps, to be thought of as “spiritual” but not enough to live as a bond slave to Love. Enough to be really moved, but not enough to really move … to move so far beyond the point of no return that the idea of a “safe” existence will never be a fleeting thought—much less a real consideration—ever again.
Take me away with you, Jesus. Awaken my heart to love; awaken my heart to your desires, no matter the cost. I want to want you more. I want to be with you. Without a present tense reality with you, I have nothing. But in you, I have everything. I want to be so lost in your gaze, that there is no cost. I want to be able o share the deepest places, the deepest longing of your heart—without shrinking back. Take me away with you, Jesus. Woo me into your chambers and reveal the secrets of your heart. I want the secret treasures of darkness; I want the hidden manna; I want to know the unknowable and touch the untouchable. Unfold the infinite mysteries of your grace. Breathe on the embers of my heart, Lord, and let it burst into a flame of passion that burns for you always. Take me away with you, Jesus—I want to be swept away by your love again and again and again and again and again …. Take me away with you, Jesus, hurry! I don’t want to miss a single moment with you.
“We rejoice and delight in you, we will praise your love more than wine. How right they (we) are to adore you! -Song of Songs 1:4b