nothing is inappropiate with God

"How handsome you are, my lover? Oh how charming! And our bed is verdant."
Song of Solomon 1:16

One of the things I love about our school is that we read the Bible every day. In fact, the whole school reads systematically through the whole Bible one or two chapters at a time. Having been there for a while now, I can truly attest to what an amazing treasure our Bible time is each morning.

Today I got into an interesting discussion with my eighth graders in Bible about some of the passages that are left off of our Bible reading schedule. (We strategically skip Song of Solomon, long and detailed passages on circumcision, and a few other like passages.) Today they brought up why we don't read certain passages, and I got the question, "Is the passage inappropriate?" A good and very thoughtful question leading to a great discussion. "No, it is God's word so it cannot be inappropriate." I explained that no passage of Scripture is or should be off limits to you as a child of the Heavenly Father, but there are some passages that are more delicate than others: passages that should be dealt with by your parents and passages that might be awkward for mixed company. But no part of God's word is inappropriate or off limits. I always encourage my kids to read the skipped passages at home and talk to their parents about what they mean. I personally find it very comforting that God deals with uncomfortable issues. The graphic passages, especially in the Old Testament, remind me that God is capable of dealing with a whole lot of mess, and all of sudden, my mess doesn't look quite as bad. And as the transcendent and eminent Creator of the universe, I love the reminder that nothing is off limits, out of bounds, or inappropriate for God.

Later today I gave the seventh graders an assignment to include an encouraging Scripture verse on a get well card for our custodian, Mr. Jackson. Then came the inevitable question: "Can we pick from anywhere in the Bible?" Hearkening back to my conversation this morning, I responded with a hearty "Of course." Sure enough, one naive student began exploring Song of Solomon.

"Mrs. Freeman, what does verdant mean?"
"Verdant means green or fertile. Why?"
"Because this Bible verse says, 'Our bed is verdant.' What does that mean?"
After my long pause and hesitation to answer, the student asked, "Oh, is it inappropriate?"
"No, it is God's Word so it is not inappropriate, but it is delicate and awkward in mixed company."
"Oh," was her quick reply. "I will just look it up in the dictionary."

At that point, what could I do but laugh?