Song of Solomon 1:14 My beloved is to me as a cluster of henna blossoms in the vineyards of En Gedi.
En Gedi is a nature reserve about 40 minutes from our home in Israel. Surrounded by dry, barren, rocky ground, except to the east where the Dead Sea lies, it is an oasis, fed year-round by springs of freshwater, and home to some of the most unique wild and botanical life in the world.
In the Song of Solomon, the King likens his beloved to flowers in the desert, his experience of En Gedi, evoking the dramatic contrast between a harsh and arid landscape and the exquisite refreshing floral beauty of an oasis. Such was Solomon's experience of romantic love, perhaps with the Queen of Sheba.
Now you may feel like you’re walking through a desert -- wandering in a wilderness...thirsty, and perhaps, longing for love...
Seek the Lord your God. His Presence is an eternal spring and a perpetual oasis in this arid world, and His love is better than the most desirable romantic experience you could hope for. It's a love that flows from an eternal spring, Yeshua (Jesus), Himself, and its sweetness and power will cause flowers to bloom throughout your dry and barren life.
Drink from the spring of life, your beloved, Yeshua – He will fill you to overflowing and make you, yourself, a living spring...for this thirsty, love-starved world.
Copyright 1999-2026 Worthy Devotions. This devotional was originally published on Worthy Devotions and was reproduced with permission.
How to display the above article within the Worthy Suite WordPress Plugin.
[worthy_plugins_devotion_single_body]Farmers and gardeners plant with great expectations. An abundant harvest is their vision as they sow the seeds for crops and vegetables, fruit, or grains. But everyone who plants, even the most amateur gardener, soon discovers there are competitors for the soil's nutrients...called WEEDS. Weeds are ambitious, resilient, and relentless, and they will affect the harvest if not removed. Every farmer and gardener needs a strategy to deal with weeds.
When Gideon was called by God, a mighty man of valor, his first task was to tear down the idolatrous altars of Baal and Asherah at his father’s house. Though he was ready to obey this command, his obedience was mixed with fear, so he destroyed the idols at night [Judges 6:27]. When the men of the city realized it was Gideon who destroyed their idols, their allegiance to Baal and Asherah drove them to demand Gideon’s life.
Biblical Hebrew uses a grammatical form called “s’michut”. This form joins two words together to form a single word form. We have this in English: for example, a door and a knob are two nouns, which are used to form the word “doorknob”, a compound noun. This form of joining nouns is found in Judges 6:12. The expression, “Angel of the Lord” is rendered, “angel-YHVH”; (Yud-Hay-Vav-Hay); in modern English — “angel-Yehovah”. Then, suddenly, the narrative changes from “angel-Yehovah” to simply, “Yehovah”. Here we see another appearance of YHVH in human form in the Old Testament. The God-Man, Yeshua in a “pre-incarnate” appearance.
Yeshua (Jesus) called himself the Good Shepherd. He described his followers as sheep. Why?
Wolves hunt in packs. Their aggression, power, and cunning, are no match for the sheep they hunt to devour. When wolves gather to form packs they are incredibly vicious and effective predators.
Truly we are living in remarkable times! Tomorrow is probably one of the most significant days of our lifetime, as Americans go to the polls and decide the future of the United States. Of course, voting is important, but let's be sure we know what we're voting for!
Ever heard of "shorting the dollar"? I have to admit, don't know a whole lot about financial investing, but I do know that there are people who invest in other currencies, hoping the dollar will continue to decrease in order to increase their own wealth.
If He was a man of the world, Yeshua (Jesus) would have chosen the elite of His day to accomplish His mission — however He used simple fishermen. These men were considered uneducated, lacking “social status”, wealth or worldly distinction of any kind — yet these “simple” men were the ones the Lord selected to build the Kingdom of God.