“I sleep, but my heart waketh: it is the voice of my beloved that knocketh, saying, Open to me, my sister, my love, my dove, my undefiled: for my head is filled with dew, and my locks with the drops of the night.” (Song of Solomon 5:2)

Beginning with Song of Solomon 5:2, the Beloved steps up the pace of progressively sanctifying his Bride.

But all things in this life only last for a season. Even as the Beloved takes his Bride to the banqueting house, and there the Beloved and his Bride reach the mountain peak of consummation; in this life, that mountain climb and the view at the peak is to repeated over and over again.

Life takes many bends in the road and even has some spurs (or side tracks); wherein the Bride is tired, even in her journey. Not tired of her Beloved; but tired of the ups and downs, the potholes, and even the length of the fog that clouds the pathway at certain times.

The Bride does not realize her condition until the Beloved reveals it to her. There are great and mighty lessons to be learned, even when you pull the train off onto a spur, even when you are tired.

All marriages pass through times, not of losing love for each other, but because of the cares of this life and the deceitfulness of riches, unbelief sneaks its way into the Bride. The raising of a family and trying to make ends meet; sometimes the marriage is pulled off onto a spur, off the mainline, to take a breather. Not realizing that a slumber and a little sleep (that is, not taking heed wherein you stand), can bring on staleness and a cool down of tending to the love plant in the marriage itself.

There is no vacation, no furlough, no time-out, in tending to the Beloved (or to the love plant which bears the fruit). The Bride cannot ever stop carrying out her position to her Beloved, her head, her husband.

Also, the Beloved is to always be aware of the Bride’s condition. It is his responsibility to watch over and teach and guide his Bride to deeper fellowship in their relationship as husband and wife.

So it is in the spiritual sense, the Bride must never stop performing her duties as Christ’s Bride. It is a fact that sometimes the Church gets tired and lazy of tending to the “love plant” as she should.

Rest assured that Christ will and does perform His Headship of His Bride. He will never slumber nor sleep, “…he that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep” (Psalms 121:4-5). He is “The Watchman”; He will always tend to the “love plant.” He never tires, nor does He ever leave or forsake His Bride.

Christ is in control of His Bride’s daily Sanctification. He has a plan of action and is implementing His Plan, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. He knows her needs, even before she asks. He knows her weaknesses. He knows what she needs at all times.

This is vividly revealed in Song of Solomon 5:2-8; and the results are always positive and conforming and enriching to the Bride. The results are the refining of the quality of her perception of Who her Beloved is to her and who she is to Him, and a deeper understanding of His so great Love she shares as a Child of God in Holy Marriage.