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I Am My Beloved’s
The Call to Fully Devoted Love
There are seasons when God asks us to stop striving and simply come closer.
We often think transformation means becoming something new. We picture the monarch butterfly emerging from its chrysalis, finally free to fly. We imagine climbing a mountain, leaving the familiar behind and ascending to a higher place with God. But what if transformation is about more than where God is taking us? What if it is also about who we are becoming as we draw closer to Him?
The Hebrew month of Elul invites us into that very place.
Elul is a season of preparation, reflection, repentance, and drawing near to God. It is the month that leads into the High Holy Days, calling us to examine our hearts and prepare ourselves for what lies ahead.
But at the heart of Elul is not fear, it is love. Elul is the invitation of the Beloved. The question God is asking us in this season is not simply, “What are you going to do for Me?” Instead, He is asking us, “Do I have all of you?”
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When Hope Takes on Flesh
The power verse for Elul is found in John 1:14:
“And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us; and we saw His glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.”
John’s words take us back to the very beginning of Scripture: “In the beginning…” The God who created the heavens and the earth stepped into His creation. The Word became flesh, and John says that He dwelt among us.
The language John uses points us back to the Tabernacle, the place where God’s presence dwelt in the midst of Israel. The Tabernacle was a picture of God’s desire to dwell with His people. Israel had been rescued from Egypt, but their story did not end with deliverance. God was leading them into His presence.
Then Jesus came. The God who once dwelt among His people in the Tabernacle came to dwell among humanity in flesh. Hope took on flesh. The Creator entered His creation. The King came near. This truth is what makes Elul so powerful. We are not trying to get the attention of a distant God. We are responding to a God who has already come looking for us. He has already drawn near.
The question is whether we will draw near to Him.
“I Am My Beloved’s”
One of the most beautiful connections to Elul is found in Song of Solomon 6:3:
“I am my beloved’s, and my beloved is mine.”
In Hebrew, the first letters of the words in this phrase form the acrostic ELUL. This is more than a fascinating connection between a Hebrew month and a biblical verse. It reveals something about the heart of this season.
Elul is about belonging.
“I am my Beloved’s.”
Before anything else, I am His. Before my accomplishments, my calling, my ministry, my failures, my plans. Before the things I think I need to accomplish for God,
I am His.
And He is mine.
The Passion Translation expresses the thought this way: “I am fully devoted to my beloved, and my beloved is fully devoted to me.”
Fully devoted— that is the cry of Elul. Not partially devoted, or only when it is convenient. Not only devoted to God when He answers our prayers the way we hoped.
Fully devoted.
What Does Fully Devoted Love Look Like?
We can easily say that we love Jesus, but devotion goes deeper than words. Devotion is revealed in what we give our attention to, what we pursue, what we surrender, and what we trust. Jesus desires every part of us. Our time, thoughts, relationships, dreams, resources, gifts, desires, fears, future, wounds, and our plans to name a few. He doesn’t simply want a portion of our lives reserved for Him.
He wants all of us.
This is the beautiful tension of following Jesus. He is completely devoted to us, and He invites us to respond with that same wholehearted devotion. Through His blood and His body, we have been brought into covenant with Him. Nothing can separate us from His faithful love.
Our Kinsman Redeemer remains loyal. Even when we wander, He calls us back. Even when we become distracted, He invites us closer. Even when we have failed, His mercy remains. That is why Elul isn’t simply a season of examining what is wrong with us. It is an opportunity to rediscover the One who loves us.
The Chrysalis of Transformation
Think again about the monarch butterfly. There is a season when the caterpillar disappears into the chrysalis. From the outside, it can look like nothing is happening. But inside, transformation is taking place.
The old form is being broken down, and something entirely new is emerging. There are seasons in our spiritual lives that feel like that. We may wonder why God has hidden us. Or why things aren’t moving, why the answers haven’t come. Or why the doors haven’t opened.
God is doing something deeper than we realize. The hidden place is not a place of abandonment, it is a place of transformation!
it is a place of transformation.
Elul invites us into that hidden place. It is a time to let God search our hearts. To allow Him to reveal the things that have become distractions. To surrender the things we have tried to control. To let Him expose places where our devotion has grown cold.
He wants to take you from asking, “When will this transformation be finished?” to declaring, “God is transforming me in the waiting.”
The Mountain and the Call to Come Higher
The mountain carries another picture of transformation. Throughout Scripture, mountains are places of encounter. Places where God reveals Himself. Mountains are places where people are called higher.
But climbing a mountain requires leaving something behind. You cannot ascend while clinging tightly to everything you carried at the bottom. There comes a point when God asks us to release the weight. The distractions, the fear, the need for control, the opinions of others, the things we have allowed to define us, and the old ways of thinking.
Elul is an invitation to ascend. Not necessarily physically, but spiritually. To move closer and to become more aware of God’s presence. The King is calling us to listen again and remember who we belong to. The greatest preparation for the next season isn’t learning something new but letting go of something old.
Come Near
James 4:8 gives us a remarkably simple invitation:
“Come near to God and he will come near to you.”
Do you hear that? Come near. Not hide. Not perform. Not pretend. Come near. There is something deeply intimate about those words. God isn’t saying, “Get yourself together and then come.” He is saying, come. Come with your questions, your failures, your fears, your disappointments, your brokenness. Come with everything you are.
The King of the Universe is not inaccessible, He came near and walked among us. Jesus touched the broken, He wept with those who grieved, He washed dirty feet. The One who holds the galaxies chose to become flesh so that we could know Him. The King came near, and now He invites us to come near to Him.
Victory Begins With Surrender
We often think that spiritual strength means fighting harder, but sometimes the greatest act of faith is surrender. There are battles we were never meant to fight in our own strength. There are things we keep trying to control that God is asking us to release. There are situations where we are exhausting ourselves trying to make something happen that He is asking us to trust Him with.
Victory begins when we recognize who our King is. Jesus demonstrated this kind of trust when He slept in the boat while the storm raged around Him. The disciples were terrified, but Jesus was at peace. The storm didn’t determine His confidence because He knew who was in control.
That is the kind of trust Elul invites us into: God, I surrender.
The King Is in the Field
There is a traditional Jewish picture associated with Elul that beautifully captures this invitation. It is often described as “The King is in the field.” The imagery is of a king leaving his palace and coming into the field to meet his people. When the king is in the palace, approaching him can feel intimidating and difficult. But when he comes into the field, he is accessible.
The picture is powerful because it reminds us of what God has already done through Jesus. The King didn’t remain distant, He came into the field. He entered our world. And if the King is in the field…
why are we still standing at a distance?
Perhaps this Elul, God is calling you out of hiding. Out of distraction, and religious performance. Out of striving, and into His presence.
Come closer.
Prepare Your Heart
Elul is traditionally a time of preparation leading into the High Holy Days. But perhaps the greatest preparation we can make isn’t external, it is internal. Before asking God what He wants to do through you in the coming year, ask Him what He wants to do within you. Ask Him to search your heart. Ask Him to reveal what has taken His place.
Psalm 51:10 gives us the perfect prayer:
“Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.”
That is the cry of Elul.
An Invitation to the Beloved
This month, I encourage you to spend time in the Song of Songs. Don’t simply read it as poetry, read it as an invitation into the mystery of God’s love. Ask Jesus to reignite your passion for Him.
Slow down and listen. Let His Word speak to your heart, and ask:
Am I fully devoted to my Beloved?
The Question of Elul
As we enter this season, perhaps the most important question is:
How close are you willing to come?
What if the greatest transformation God wants to bring into your life isn’t first about changing your circumstances? What if He wants to transform your relationship with Him? What if He wants you to trust Him more deeply?
Jesus desire for you to surrender more completely, love Him more passionately, and become more aware of His presence. The truth is the mountain isn’t simply about reaching the top. The chrysalis isn’t simply about becoming something new. Both are invitations to know the One who is calling you higher. The King is in the field. He has come near, and He is calling you closer.
The chrysalis is not the end.
The mountain is not the destination.
His presence is the invitation.
The greatest transformation of all is discovering what it means to live fully devoted to the One who has been fully devoted to you all along.
I am my Beloved’s.
And my Beloved is mine.
A Guide for the Coming Season
If you want to go deeper with your family into this season, I’ve created a Fall Feasts Guide for Families—an easy-to-follow ebook that walks you through the meaning and beauty of the Feast of Trumpets (Yom Teruah), the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur), and the Feast of Tabernacles (Sukkot).
This guide is designed to help you not just learn about the feasts, but to experience them together as a family in a meaningful, Christ-centered way.
Grab the guide and step into the rhythm of God’s appointed times with intention and joy. Make sure you listen to this episode of the podcast to get your discount code for 40% off this guide!
Now My Eyes See You
When pain becomes an invitation to encounter God face-to-face
If this episode has stirred something in you, Janell invites you to go deeper with her. Explore her devotional Now My Eyes See You. In it, she shares how suffering, though disorienting, can become the place where we encounter God’s redeeming presence. Like Job, we are not alone in the ashes. Jesus steps in and leads us into healing. The devotional is available on Amazon in all formats. And Janell has a free Bible study to accompany it, link is below.
Grab Your FREE Bible Study!
Click above to join Janell’s Substack for a Bible Study on the Book of Job
Download the pdf notes and all seven videos. You can use it forever! Whether you have questions about suffering, this resource will help. If you know of people in your life that do, this resource will be a rich and meaningful addition to your faith toolbox.
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Janell Kremer 
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