Set Me as a Seal Upon Your Heart...

I am taking a break from the five-fold ministry series today to share something on my heart (athough this revelation is foundational to operating in the five-fold ministry).

There comes a point in love where it moves beyond the fulfillment of one's needs & becomes a mature love that is willing to do anything without receiving anything in return. This is unconditional love.

In the New Testament, many apostles referred to themselves as "bondservants" or "bondslaves." A bondslave was a slave who after 7 years of serving a master, made the decision to be bonded to his master for life--not only his life, but the lives of his children after him. This slave would be taken to the doorpost of a house & an awl would be driven through his ear. An earring would be placed in the hole & they would become a bond-slave for life. It was completely voluntary on the part of the slave, & it was the seal of a blood covenant.

Jesus was also called a bondservant (Phil. 2:7). He also entered into a blood covenant & was pierced in the flesh. Jesus called all who would follow Him to enter into this same blood covenant by taking up their cross & following Him (Mk 8).

In Song of Solomon 8:6, the Bride is coming up out of the wilderness after many trials of both favor & persecution. After going through a long process of purification, her love is brought into maturity & she is totally reliant on her Bridegroom--willing to follow Him anywhere & do anything for Him. She says, "Set me as a seal upon your heart, as a seal upon your arm; For love is as cruel as death, Jealousy as cruel as the grave..." She is asking for Him to mark her heart & her arm with a mark of unconditional love that will never be taken away--literally to take a hot branding iron & sear her flesh with an eternal mark of unconditional surrender.

The only way to enter into the unconditional love of Christ is to surrender to Him no matter what it looks like & ask Him to set His seal on your heart. Ask Him how to enter into this blood covenant with Him & to mark you for the point of no return.