Real romance
Song of Songs 8: Love can’t be bought, love can’t be sold.
Romantic love is one of the highest of human emotions. The Song of Songs is a testimony to the power of romantic love plus sexual attraction. The opera pictures a man and woman who are irresistibly drawn to one another. She can’t sleep for thinking about him and he daydreams only of her. The imagery here is compelling and sometimes “R-rated.” The woman observes that love like this can’t be found in the marketplace. That is, it doesn’t come along every day. Our society has separated sexual attraction from real love and has, in fact, mislabeled it alone as “love.” The truth is that sex without love and commitment cheapens rather than elevates life. Song of Songs gives us the whole package. Since it’s all dressed up as an opera we might be tempted to dismiss it as unrealistic. It probably is unrealistic to envision the average guy and gal singing opera to one another; at least it doesn’t happen at our house! However, it’s right on in its depiction of the power of love, romance, and sex as God intended it.
Take Away: Sex without love and commitment cheapens rather than elevates life.