Kisses

 “And his father Isaac said unto him, Come near now, and kiss me, my son.”  (Gen. 27:26)

A kiss is usually an outward expression of love.  There are many “kisses” in the Bible (in 19 verses) that speak of the character of man.  I offer a few of them in this document.

1. The kiss of affection:
    In the verse I selected, the first “kiss” in the Bible, Jacob greets his beloved son with a kiss.  He seems to know there is something amiss, but blesses Jacob anyway, instead of Esau.   Though deceptive on Jacob’s part, the kiss was an expression of affection by Isaac.  
    A kiss can speak of many diabolical deceptions, and it can be a gesture of endearment, and love, it can go both ways. 

2. The kiss of deception:
In 2 Samuel 20:9 we read; “And Joab said to Amasa, Art thou in health, my brother? And Joab took Amasa by the beard with the right hand to kiss him.”

This is a very diabolical and subtle kiss, with evil intent.
To kiss in this manner, or to feign to do so, speaks of trust and companionship to the one, but evil is the motive of the other.  This kiss betrays trust and catches the unwary victim by subtlety. 

3. The kiss of allegiance and loyalty:
Though used metaphorically, we have another type of kiss which speaks;

“Yet I have left me seven thousand in Israel, all the knees which have not bowed unto Baal, and every mouth which hath not kissed him.”  (1 Kings 19:18)

This is where Elijah sought refuge in the Lord because of Jezebel.  Though he seemed despondent, the Lord assured him that He had seven thousand faithful followers in Jerusalem, that had “kissed” the Lord, and not Baal. 

4. The kiss of faith:
This is also a kiss of loyalty and love.  Again we see the word “kiss” used metaphorically, as an act of endearment, but aimed in the right direction.  The verse I refer to is Psa. 2:12:

“Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and ye perish from the way, when his wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all they that put their trust in him.”

 To “kiss the Son (note the capital “S”) is to draw close to Jesus; it is to hold Him in our heart, and admire Him greatly in our thoughts, and it speaks of intimacy with our Lord, without which we have nothing. 

5. The kiss of reward and appreciation:

“Every man shall kiss his lips that giveth a right answer.” (Prov. 24:26)

Again we see the metaphor for kiss.  The word “kiss” seems to speak many different “languages“, and apply many different ways.  Men respect an honest man whether they admit it or not.  They may never let him know it, but they respect his honesty and openness, it is natural to do so.  Most likely, the man that gives a right answer will be upright in his affairs, he will be honest in business. 

6. The kiss of betrayal:

“Now he that betrayed him gave them a sign, saying, Whomsoever I shall kiss, that same is he: hold him fast.”  (Mt. 26:48)

The kisses of a false friend hurt deeply when he is discovered; they pierce us to the heart, and cause much consternation in our life, yet they are more common, I think, than we realize.  Jesus asked Judas a convicting question: “But Jesus said unto him, Judas, betrayest thou the Son of man with a kiss?” (Lk. 22:48).  One wonders how low we can go when betrayal is our goal?  Perhaps it was more than the money, the thirty pieces of silver, which amounted to quite a sum for them, perhaps it was a deep-seated evil a love for the world--Satan’s world, hidden deep within his heart.  Betrayal on any level is evil; whether in marriage, in business, or in societal matters, their always seems to be an ulterior motive.

7.  The kiss of salutation:

Five verses, the last five in the Bible that contain the word “kiss” speak of greeting “one another with a holy kiss” (Rom. 16:16); or 1 Cor. 16:20~2 Cor. 13:12~1 Thess. 5:26, each of these say essentially the same thing but the last mention of “kiss” changes just a bit:

“Greet ye one another with a kiss of charity. Peace be with you all that are in Christ Jesus. Amen.” (1 Pet. 5:14)

A “kiss of charity“, of brotherly love; of giving to the need of a brother.  Charity means the same thing it means today, loving enough to see to the needs of others. This too is a wonderful and kindly and God-like kiss.

The Characteristics of Love

1.  Love desires reciprocation.
    A one-sided love promotes frustration and discontent.
    Love desires company (companionship). 1 John 4:19.

2.  Love is unbiased, without prejudice.
    It is unconditional;
    Conditioned love is mock love.

3.  Love is eternal.
    There is no “falling out of love”;
    Nothing can replace true love, as it has no end.

4.  Love cannot be described.
    No words adequate enough to describe love. (“so much” as in John 3:16)
    Love is seen in action, not in words.  (Calvary).

5.  Love is not self-seeking.
    There is no pride in love; no self seeking.
    Love is “others” minded, it gives and asks nothing in return.

6.  Love is pure.
    Real love promotes chastity.
   
7.  Love is powerful.
    Love brings the strongest and most noble of men to their knees.

8.  Love is motivational.
    It promotes Truth;
    Love demands action. 
   

A Fisher of Men

Matthew  4

“And he saith unto them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.” (v. 19)

    Forgive me if I take this verse out of context, but there is an illustration that one can apply here that teaches us a great truth.  You see, Satan too is a good “fisher of men”.  It is as if he casts the bait out into the sea of life, and just waits to see who bites.   The bait may be drugs, sex, or alcohol, or anything, it may be simply a proud heart, but the emphasis is not on the bait, but on the catch.  We may not bite the worm of alcohol; or the lure of drugs; we may not get caught up in immorality, or thievery, but somewhere in the tackle box of Satan, he has a lure that will get our attention, and we will bite.  We may nibble a little at first, as fish often do, but then he just throws out more of the same bait until we swallow the hook.  In this way, he sees our weakness, and feeds it until we are hooked.  The devil does not have the ability to be omniscient, all knowing, as many of us seem to think; we need not give him so much credit as to emulate the characteristics of God.  He is not all present, as God is, nor all powerful, but he is wily, and very, very subtle.  Yes, he is a fisher of men too, or rather a fisher for men.  Peter knew this, and wrote, by the inspiration of the Holy Ghost, “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:”  The devil doesn’t care how he gets you to stumble, as long as he does it.  It makes no difference to him which bait you take, or how much of it you take, but his concern is to side-track you, and to get you off course with the Lord.  You see, once you are saved, he can never get you back again, but he will work night and day to destroy your joy; or to get you to stray away from truth and right.  In this way, he gets the victory; in this way, he devours us. 

    The remedy for this baiting is to stay close to the Lord.  Be vigilant; be on guard; and walk circumspectly.  The remedy is seen in the verse we quoted in 1 Peter 5:8, “Be sober, be vigilant….” And the reason for such carefulness is also given, (the rest of the verse), it is, therefore a warning as well as a wise admonition, be watchful, and be very careful.   Satan’s tackle box has something in it for each of us, something that we will bite on, and he knows that if he throws enough bait out there, that we will bite on something. 
Let’s lean on the grace of God, and hope that when we bite, it is just a nibble and that old Slewfoot doesn’t hook us, and reel us in.  We need to rely on the Lord’s strength and not our own.  Our strength is weakness, our victory is in Jesus.