Thursday, July 23, 2015

The List

One thing I have desired of the LORD, That will I seek: That I may dwell in the house of the LORD All the days of my life, To behold the beauty of the LORD, And to inquire in His temple. Psalm 27:4 (NKJV)

When I was a young man I desired a lot of things. Maintaining a relationship with God was on the list, but in practical terms of how I lived, He certainly wasn’t on or maybe even near the top. It’s not that I was a wild and crazy guy diving into the vices of the world, because, I did not have a desire to be like the prodigal son. So, what were the things that occupied the top of my list of desires? To be successful, to be popular with my peers, to be adored by my wife, to be worshiped by my children, to make a better than average income, to be praised by my parishioners, to be in control… I could go on ad nauseam.

Everything in the way I lived screamed, “I want to be somebody!” This leads to an unconscious preoccupation with comparing and measuring yourself against everyone else who seems to be accomplishing “your” list. It triggers envy. It depresses with insecurity. It strokes and manipulates the ego. It frustrates in its endless futility. In the center of this maniacal firestorm is you…you sitting on the throne of your own heart. Alone, and still preoccupied with the person in the mirror.

One day I woke up…and I realized that Solomon was on to something when he wrote that all in life was vanity. That is when it dawned on me that God needed to be at the top of my list and "yours truly" thrown off the throne! Life is not about the image that I see in the mirror, it is about the one who is preparing a place for me beyond this life. I now understand the words of the Psalmist David, “One thing I have desired of the Lord, that will I seek: That I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life.” Being with the Lord, life does not get any better than that!

2 comments:

Sky Pilot said...

Good Word for ua all. Thanks.

Unknown said...

We all must learn this lesson.