The Kiss Of Death

Come, sit, and enjoy a cup of tea or coffee in the comfort of the Lord:  "Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamour and evil speaking be put away from you with all malice."  Ephesians  4:31

                "Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth:  for thy love is better than wine."
                                                                                                             Song of Solomon  1:2

     Where the world's favorite indoor sport - "kissing" - originated, I do not know.  The earliest record of kissing is in Genesis 27:26.  There it was a kiss of deception and betrayal.  The last mention of kissing is in 1Peter  5:14  and here is a pure kiss of devotion.  Between these first - and last-mentioned kisses we have recorded many other kinds.  Some of them are:  The kiss of  (1)  Death  (2 Samuel  20:9);  (2)  Lust  (Proverbs  7:13);  and  (3)  Betrayal  (Mark  14:44).  These were all evil kisses - kisses of sin.  But there are also other kisses:  The kiss of:  (4)  Devotion  (Luke  7:45);  (5)  Greeting  (Romans  16:16,  1 Corinthians  16:20);  (6)  Farewell  (Ruth  1:9);  and  (7)  Reconciliation  (Luke  15:20).

     The father kissed his repentant son before he was cleaned up.  He kissed him with all the filth of the pigs' trough upon him.  What matchless love!  It is a picture of God's love.  He gave His Son to die for us "while were yet sinners"  (Romans  5:8).

     A little girl lay desperately ill with diphtheria.  The mother had been warned to avoid all possible contact with the child for fear of contagion.  The child sank into a stupor and the anxious mother with a prayer laid her tender hand on her brow.  This touch revived her, and seeing mother, she whispered,  "Kiss me, Mother."  Love overcame fear and she stooped down to kiss her.  Mother's love conquered, but it cost her life.  She kissed the one she loved with the kiss of death; but God kissed the ungodly, the unlovely.  Christ by His love-kiss took our contagion upon Him and bore it to the cross.  It was the kiss of death; but the kiss of death for Him became the kiss of salvation for us.  This kiss is offered to all.  "Kiss the Son"  (Psalm  2:12). Yes, kiss the Son and accept His reconciliation.  Blessed are all they that put their trust in Him.

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