dayTHREE :: Whole Being

You, God, are my God,

earnestly I seek you;

I thirst for you,

my whole being longs for you,

in a dry and parched land

where there is no water.

  I have seen you in the sanctuary

and beheld your power and your glory. 

Because your love is better than life,

my lips will glorify you. 

I will praise you as long as I live,

and in your name I will lift up my hands. 

I will be fully satisfied as with the richest of foods;

with singing lips my mouth will praise you.

  On my bed I remember you;

I think of you through the watches of the night. 

Because you are my help,

I sing in the shadow of your wings. 

I cling to you;

your right hand upholds me.

  Those who seek my life will be destroyed;

they will go down to the depths of the earth. 

They will be given over to the sword

and become food for jackals.

    But the king will rejoice in God;

all who swear by God will glory in him,

while the mouths of liars will be silenced.

- Psalm 63

"Earnestly seeking."  Interesting concept.  In the Message, the phrase is rendered "I can't get enough".  We earnestly seek things that we cannot get enough of.  What is it that you are earnestly seeking during this season of your life.  For some it may be a job, for others it may be the perfect body, for others it may be a fulfilling relationship.  The psalmist understood that nothing was worth his earnest seeking except God, and that his whole being thirsted for God.  

Have you ever had a relationship where your "whole being" longed for the other person?  Have you ever wanted something so badly that you couldn't get it out of your mind?  We are not commanded to have this kind of relationship with God, but the psalmist does describe his that way.  In fact, most people that I would consider close followers of Jesus often describe there relationship with him in a manner similar to this.  Why do you think this is so?  We were created to be in a perfect relationship with our Father, but something called disobedience messed that up and continues to mess it up every day.  So when I am seeking Father with my whole being, I can't get enough.  My whole being longs for Him.  We are simply longing for what we were created to experience.

David's passion and thirst for God led him to a radical dependence.  Praise flowed from his lips in songs.  David was a singer, an artist.  Praise flowed from who he was.  Who are you?  Does praise flow from your lips?  Does praise flow from your keyboard?  Your paintbrush?  Your shop tools?  Your counseling? Your doctoring?  Your engineering? Your customer service?  What is it about you that rings out praises to Father as you hunger and thirst for Him?

prayTODAY ::

In all of our lives there are things that step in front of our hunger and thirst for God.  Things that will not satisfy.  Spend some time this morning identifying some of those "focus-breakers."  Once you've identified a few, ask God to curb their influence in your life and give you a "whole-being" passion and thirst for Him.  His love is better than life, so praise Him this day.