Discipleship Lesson: Wanting God the MOST makes the other stuff better.
There is only so much room in our hearts.
We can’t love everything. We can’t always be filled up with a devotion to the . . .
- Coolest clothes
- Latest entertainment news
- Hippest hashtag
- Latest trends
- Cutting-edge software
- Strengths and weaknesses of every new player on every team
. . . AND be filled up with fresh, filling, after-Thanksgiving-dinner-satisfied love for Jesus at the same time.
Especially early on in my walk with Jesus, I wondered why some of my friends would demonstrate a passion for the Lord initially, but then seem to lose interest in taking ground in Him as time went by.
Don’t get me wrong. They had been excited about the promises of God and doing great things for Him, but after a time, it was almost as if they woke up from a dream to the ‘real world’, and subsequently busied themselves with “other things” (see Matthew 13:22).
The reason some find more of the Lord’s reality than others is that they are LOOKING more. They value closeness with Him MORE.
When this is true, we’ll regard seeking God through prayer, Bible intake, fasting, obedience and other spiritual disciplines as more important to our lives than lesser goals like a hobby, recreation, or even furthering our career.
Jesus described those who MUST have MORE of God in their lives this way:
“The Kingdom of Heaven is like a treasure that a man discovered hidden in a field. In his excitement, he hid it again and SOLD EVERYTHING he owned to get enough money to buy the field.” (Matthew 13:44 NLT, emphasis added)
Put the passion back in your weekend.
Did you see it? Those who were experiencing His kingdom MORE were willing to relinquish things of lesser value in order to fully take hold of Him.
In other words, a white-hot tightness with God really comes down to, not whether we value closeness with Him AT ALL, but whether we value it MORE than anything else. Those who end up finding the Lord are those who keep going, keep seeking, because they want Him MOST.
Those who want Him LESS find that He wants to be chased, BUT they do not want Him ENOUGH to pursue Him very hard.
Spiritual luke-warmness is the result of NOT DECIDING that we will love Jesus MORE than:
- Our sleep
- Our ‘plan’
- Our goals
- Our recreation
- Our business
- Our spouse or kids (See Matthew 10:37)
But does that mean we’re not supposed to enjoy the things God gives us?
Of course not (see Ecclesiastes 5:18-19). Certainly, God wants us to enjoy good things like shopping trips, sleep, good food and our grandkids. But He wants us to enjoy them more fully BY keeping Him in the center of all that we love.
The solution to enjoying everything else MORE is to just want MORE GOD the most.
Saved people serve people.
“Delight yourself in the LORD; And He will give you the desires of your heart.” (Psalm 37:4, NASB95)
This is what He wants for all of us because this is what helps us enjoy everything else MORE.
What about you? Is there any place in life where are you pursuing Jesus’ gifts more than His presence?
Discipleship Lesson: Wanting God MOST makes the other stuff better.
Pray It:
Lord, help me want you more – and more than I want anything else. Alert me to the things that are taking my focus from You and help me let go of anything that is causing me to reject you as my chief priority. Help me step on the gas when it comes to seeking you through prayer, Bible intake, and other spiritual disciplines. I trust that You will.
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