Ruminations and Ramifications

The Gap Widens (and other reflections)

As the gap widens between what I believe, and what they believe, I can do nothing but cover my face and bow at the thought that I was shaken and shown the truth by the Truth.

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I rode about 20 miles this morning as the sun rose. The cardinals are out. The squirrels are eating breakfast on the edge of tree branches lining the trail, seemingly unconcerned about my passing. Thin veils of mist covered low lying areas, pierced by the stems of dry, broken stalks of prairie grass.

And I began to ruminate on Psalm 37:4 - Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart.

And I thought about the true implications of that verse. So many of us have desires we'd like to see fulfilled on earth. I know I do, but I've relinquished as many of them as I have been given the grace to the Lord. And because of that, I began to see the verse differently.

If I am delighting myself in the Lord, this does not mean I have experienced Him fully. He delights me, as a boat ride into the Atlantic delights me. But I do not own the boat. I paid for the trip, and I walked onto the boat, but the boat isn't coming home with me.

In short, If I am delighting myself in the Lord, what is the desire of my heart? Uncluttered, free of any desire for anything else, the desire of my heart is the Lord. And He will fulfill ANY desire that is a TRUE desire for Him and Him alone.

This verse isn't about getting the house, the husband, the job, the kids, the car, the vacation, or ANYTHING else that we want. ESPECIALLY if it isn't for His glory. If it's not for His glory alone, we can pretty much throw out the window the possibility that it will be anything more than straw which will burn up at the end. And I've heard people use this verse that way. "Oh, don't you worry; the Bible says that if you delight yourself in God, He will give you your heart's desire." And so we go into this thinking that we're going to bargain with God. "God I will follow you and obey your laws and read the Bible and go to church; and I KNOW You'll do me GOOD!!!" And underneath, we focus on what we want. We follow our wicked hearts, and flirt with God on sunday.

No, my friend. Until you want God first, you'll never understand that verse. Because if He is what you delight in, you'll accept nothing less than Him. All else is dung to you.
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The Christian life isn't a mere inconvenience this side of eternity; it's an all out war.

posted by Marcian @ 3:27 PM