Sex and Mangoes

"I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem, that you not stir up or awaken love until it pleases." Song of Solomon 8:4

About a month ago, I was eating a mango and immediately thought about sex. Are you hooked yet? Let me explain.

Proof that I love fruit: this was a past "birthday cake" I had!

If you know me, you know I LOVE fruit. All kinds. So when I see these beautiful mangoes sitting on my kitchen table, I can't help myself! I pick up the mango, give it a little squeeze, and, to my despair, realize it is not ripe.

Here are the thoughts that go through my head:

"Ugh. I want this mango so bad. I should wait at least a day for it to ripen. It'll be so much sweeter and tastier then."

"But I want it now! I don't care if it's a little sour. I can put some Tajin on it."

"No, Jadyn. You're gonna waste a good mango if you eat it right now. Just wait a day."

"Nope. Sorry. I'm eating it."

So, in true Eve fashion, I succumb to the fruit-eating devil on my shoulder and begin peeling the mango.

Here are the thoughts that that go through my head:

"Man. This mango is not ripe. I shouldn't have started peeling it."

"You've already started peeling it babe. No going back now. Maybe it'll taste better than you think."

Then the mango is peeled, staring at me in its greenish-yellow glory. It isn't the soft gold that I wanted. But the first deed is already done, right? Might as well cut it up.

The mango is now sliced. I know I'm going to be disappointed but I push those undesirable thoughts away, vainly hoping the green thing will miraculously taste golden. It does not.

Despite having been peeled, the outside is tough and it is pretty stinking sour. I douse the fruit in Tajin and power through. After eating the whole thing, I felt unsatisfied. Silly, stupid, even. I really thought I could outsmart God, in a way. He made this beautiful fruit for me to enjoy when it is ripe, sweet, juicy! Not when it is tough, sour, and bitter!

Do you see why I thought about sex? How often are we too impatient to wait for the maturity of love?

We know that waiting for sex after marriage is God's desire for us. We know that to obey His precepts brings delight and satisfaction (Psalm 119). Yet, like my experience with the mango, we may think we are smarter than God. We may think we can trick ourselves into enjoying the bitter taste of sex before marriage, while inwardly knowing it never satisfies. You can add as much Tajin as you want, have as many partners as you desire, but it does not quiet the screaming fact that the fruit is unripe.

I am reminded of the scene in the Garden of Eden. How beautiful it must have been! To walk with God! To shamelessly dwell in His presence! Then Eve had to come along and eat the fruit. Maybe it is deeply rooted in my inner being to eat fruit I shouldn't. Lol. I digress.

God is holy. God created sex. Therefore sex is holy and its Creator demands that we obey the rules He has set in place.

"Let marriage be held in honor among all, and let the marriage bed be undefiled, for God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterous." Hebrews 13:4

God's glory is our good. Not the other way around.

"And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose." Romans 8:28

To love God is to obey Him (John 14:15). Looking at Romans 8:28, then, if we obey God by abstaining from premarital sex, what do you think will happen?

I know it is so much easier said than done, but I urge you, brothers and sisters, to flee from sexual immorality! God made sex as one of the many beautiful fruits of marriage. Do not eat the fruit until it is ripe!

Grace and peace!!!

Jadyn