The only way that our often-cold hearts can be moved towards the Lord Jesus is to be reminded of all that His love cost Him in suffering on the cross. If we could see His blessed hands, we would see also the print of the nails. If we reached out to Him, we would be reminded of the sweetness of His unchanging love which led him into death. When He instituted the Lord's Supper, the Lord Jesus was perfectly aware of the tendency of our hearts to forget Him. This is the occasion when we can, every week, remember Him in His death. If you do not do this, do not be surprised if your heart becomes indifferent to the claims of Christ and you find yourself at ease in places where He would not Himself go.

The Lord Jesus wants us to realize how much He feels our lack of love to Him. As a result, it sometimes becomes necessary for us to be brought into circumstances where the awfulness of life without Him comes home to us. He must withdraw Himself and leave the Holy Spirit to work in our hearts. This reflects what happened to the bride in Song of Solomon 5:6: "I opened [the door] for my beloved, but my beloved had turned away and was gone. My heart leaped up when He spoke. I sought him, but I could not find him; I called him, but he gave me no answer."

The Lord would have us experience what unrequited love feels like. Sometimes the only way we learn this is be passing through circumstances in which we may droop so low that we may wonder if the Lord Jesus is with us. We know that He has said, "I will never leave you nor forsake you" (Hebrews 13:5). This is always true, but when my heart becomes cold towards Him I will lose the sense of His company.

The bride now speaks with anguish, for she has felt what it is like to call to her beloved and receive no answer. Have you ever experienced that? Fallen very low in spirit, and prayed hard, but it seemed as if the Lord was not listening? Look deeply into your own heart and see if He is everything to you, and remember that you may have, for a while, lived as if He did not exist. How searching to have such an experience!