Come Away By Joel M. Killion Email: joel@innerlifeministries.com Website: innerlifeministries.com
	Song of Solomon 2:8-10 (NKJV) is a present word for our time: “The voice of my Beloved! Behold, He comes leaping upon the mountains, skipping upon the hills. My Beloved is like a gazelle or a young stag. Behold, He stands behind our wall; He is looking through the windows, gazing through the lattice. My Beloved spoke, and said to me: Rise up, My love, My fair one, and come away.” At this time, the Lord is searching to and fro (“leaping” and “skipping”) throughout the earth - peering through the “windows” - curiously seeking for those who are mutually toward Him (2 Chron. 16:9).   And He’s “shewing” Himself, in part, through the “lattice,” allowing them to see just enough to stir their hearts (Song 5:4). Yet, as He searches among the children of men, His findings never fail - in every generation - to bring Him to that “one” who “endlessly requires” Him before and above all things (Ps. 53:2; 1 Cor. 9:24-25).   “My dove, my perfect one, is the only one, the only one of her mother, the favorite of the one who bore her…” (Song of Solomon 6:9, NKJV) This is the “one” He has been looking for, who can warm and ravish His heart with just “one glance” (Song 4:9s; Ps. 25:15).  This is His well beloved, His “fair one.” Still, even with this special ability to arrest His heart, she is still far too busy, constantly preoccupied with “many things.” Her heart is flooded with an over-abundance of interests (other intents), affections (other lovers) and attachments (other gods), distracted from the One Who loves her and wants to be with her most. However, as she lays in the bed of the comfort of “her way,” her Beloved remains steadfastly with her, standing behind her wall; He is showing Himself “through the lattice,” knocking, hoping and waiting for her to “rise up…and come away” (Song 2:8-10). Deep down inside, within His heart, there is an infinite longing to be “alone” with the “one” He loves; He is weary of “sharing” her and wants her all to Himself without reserve. But, in His search, as He approaches His people to “test” their response, many fail to purely and simply acknowledge Him.  He walks into their midst and whispers into their ear but they do not hear Him and if they do hear, they do not respond as they should; thus their “dual loyalties” are revealed. Therefore, in every age, His cry is consistent: “Oh, that there were even one among you…who would shut the doors…” (Malachi 1:10, Amp) These “doors” are the many “gateways” or “entry-points” within our lives through which “distractions” come. These “distractions” disrupt and often paralyze spiritual sensitivity, relationship and growth as they seek to keep us preoccupied with “lesser things.”  Oftentimes, these “interruptions” manifest themselves as sneaky, stealthy - almost insignificant - “little foxes” meant to “spoil the vines” of our spiritual life in the Lord (Song 2:15). Yet many, due to personal “blind-spots” and the “seeming” inexistence of these “open doors,” are completely unaware of these “distracters” and, in many cases, will not “see the light” until their “breaking” is fulfilled.   Nevertheless, the Lord is actively seeking those who are willing and obedient to “forcefully” shut every door, big and small alike, for the reward of walking with Him in an “open” heaven (see Lk. 13:24 and Heb. 4:11 in the Amplified). Union with Christ is “the highest call” of man but it also carries “the highest price” that man will ever know.  Many are being “called” into this place with Him but very few are willing to pay the “full price” in order to be “chosen” (Matt. 20:16-22; 22:14; also 1 Cor. 9:24-25; 2 Tim. 2:3-5). When Jesus walked the earth, there were four groups who “followed” Him (and “loved” Him) on four different levels of devotion: 1) The “multitudes,” 2) the “twelve,” 3) the “three” (Peter, James and John) and, 4) the “one” (John); each group was within the previous group, revealing a progressive remnant principle. The “Multitudes” followed the Lord “because they saw His miracles” (Jn. 6:2, KJV) and “were fed with the loaves and were filled and satisfied” (Jn. 6:26, Amp). The “Twelve” possessed a further commitment; their “faithfulness” was greater than the “multitudes.” When the “majority” left, they stayed. Yet, in the end, when it was time for “the Cross,” they ran. The “Three” - Peter, James and John - were a remnant of the “Twelve,” who saw the transfigured Lord in the mount. They saw and knew a side of Him that no one else had ever seen before. John, however, was nearer than the “Three” for His head “rested” on Jesus’ breast; he had learned “the secret of His Presence.” And when everyone was gone, He alone “remained.”  He was the “one…whom Jesus loved” (Jn. 13:23, KJV). Within every generation, throughout Scripture and Church History, these “four groups” are seen as they - each - take their own stand. Song of Solomon 6:8-9 (Amp) reveals them in another light: “There are sixty queens (Peter, James and John) and eighty concubines (the twelve), and virgins without number (the multitudes); but my dove, my undefiled and perfect one (John), stands alone [above them all]…she is the choice one…” Again, we see the “one among many,” the one willing to “shut the doors” of endless distraction (Mal. 1: 10, Amp). Clearly, there are “many” - “without number” - who “say” they are “committed to Him,” but are, in fact, double-minded in the valley of decision, constantly wavering to and fro within their mind, emotions and will. Yet, even so, there is “one,” in His eyes, who has His attention for she has detached herself from “all but Him,” setting her face, like a flint, on Him and Him alone (Isa. 50:7).  As a result, she is the “one” He is singling out at this time for she is His “one among a thousand” and she will not be ashamed (Job 33:2, KJV). As for this generation, who will “turn aside” from their daily routine when He calls? Who will “wait” patiently for Him in the night watches when everyone else is asleep in their beds (or pews)? Who will sacrifice all - the entirety of their lives - just to “be with Him”? As is always the case, the “still, small voice” of the Holy Spirit is whispering through the fan-fare of religious noise and hype, streaming through, ever so gently, to be singularly heard by those who posses a “hearing ear”:        “Come, my people, enter your chambers and shut your doors behind you; hide yourselves…” (Isa. 26: 20, AMP) The Lord is pulling on us: Come, My people, hide yourself, enter your chambers, shut the doors and be still. Separate yourselves from the “noise” of life and “just be with Me” (See Lk. 5:16) This same plea is repeated by the Lord Himself in Matthew 6:6, “…When you pray, go into your [most] private room, and, closing the door, pray to your Father, Who is in secret; and your Father, Who sees in secret, will reward you in the open.” (Amplified). “…Find a quiet, secluded place so you won't be tempted to role-play before God. Just be there as simply and honestly as you can manage. The focus will shift from you to God, and you will begin to sense his grace.” (Message) “…Go into thy chamber, and…shut thy door, pray to thy Father who [is] in secret, and thy Father who is seeing in secret, shall reward thee manifestly.” (Young’s Literal Translation) Please understand, within the framework of the environment of this “secret, hidden place,” there is an intrinsic quality, put there by the Lord that rapidly fosters spiritual substance and life on a number of levels unlike anything else in the Christian experience. This secret place - this “private chamber” - is the seedbed for genuine spiritual union, where our hearts - “our true selves” - are interwoven, through a process of development, with the many fibers of God’s very own Person. Like a “seed,” He will increasingly sow Himself into the fertile soil of our hearts and will skillfully tend His crop, in these times of intimacy, until it becomes “more.” Through time, as we faithfully meet, “alone” with Him - face to face - He will favor us, more and more, with an increased manifestation of His Presence in, and eventually through, our lives. This is why the Lord Himself said that “when” we spend time with Him “in secret,” He will reward us “in the open” (manifestly). But remember, the Lord’s directive is that “when you pray,” it be done in such a place and in such a manner that you are unobserved, undistracted and undisturbed.  This is vitally important. In Song of Solomon 1:4a (AMP), the Shulamite cries out, “Draw me! We will run after you! The king has brought me into His apartments! (chamber)” Presently, the Lord is wooing His beloved into His “private chamber,” which is, in fact, comprised of many “apartments” that are each a part of His “chamber.”  These many “apartments” speak of the many “planes” or “stages” of intimacy within the Lord’s personal abode. Each “part” or “level,” possesses within itself, a further stage in the processing of spiritual maturity where the Lord actively works within our lives - progressively kneading and massaging His Life into our life - to transform us into those who are, more and more, like Him in every way, in thought, word and deed. Each “plane” of spiritual development is a “riser and tread.” Those who “hear and obey” the call of God to “come up higher,” will progressively enter into an experiential revelation of the nature of “the secret of the stairs” and will, therefore, “ascend” into a fuller impartation of the “knowledge of the holy,” which is an intimate understanding of the Lord Himself (Rev. 4:1; Song 2:14). Once this “knowledge” is attained, according to “His liking,” He will then send them, as equitable representatives, into the “fields” of His choosing.