Better Than Life

What do you think about when you crawl into bed and your head hits the pillow? When you rub the sleep from your eyes in the morning, what are the first thoughts that start winding their way through that labyrinth inside your head? What is it that really gets your motor running? What or whom do you crave?

For you married guys ... do you remember what it was like when you first fell head-over-heel in love with your wife? If you're like me, you couldn't stop thinking about her ... thinking about what she said the last time you were together, her smile, her laugh, what she did, what she wore. You would count the minutes until the next time that you'd be together, thinking about those special things you'd like to do together, perhaps a walk in the park or a favorite restaurant. Maybe you wrote letter upon letter, email upon email, or text message upon text message. Whatever the case, she was the object of your affection and desire. You couldn't wait to see her, call her, talk with her, laugh with her, and spend time with her.

I'm of the opinion that God wants us to be even more excited about our relationship with Him than we are/were about our relationship with anybody else on the planet. God wants to be, first and foremost, the primary Love of our life -- not only our Creator and Savior and Shepherd, but also our Best Friend, our Lover, Him whose presence is always in our hearts and minds. He wants to be the great Foundation, the Center, where our thoughts turn to automatically when we come up for breath from whatever we're doing.

Maybe you've been there before. You had just turned your life over to Jesus, you had accepted Christ as your Lord and Savior, acknowledging that because of the sin in your life you need the forgiveness and redemption that can only come through the Cross and Resurrection. Do you remember how excited you were? Do you remember wanting to find out more about this Savior, wanting to get to know Him? Do you remember a time when you were so excited about God that you couldn't put your Bible down? You'd stay up late, you'd get up early, and you'd do anything you could during the day to find that extra time to spend some time in reading and in prayer.

If you're like me, it in many ways was somewhat similar to when I fell in love with my wife.

The author of Psalm 63 says in verse 1, "O God, you are my God, earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you, my body longs for you, in a dry and weary land where there is no water."

He goes on to say in verse 3, "Because your love is better than life, my lips will glorify you."

And in verses 5-6, "My soul will be 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."

Are you there now? If not, why did you stray away from that super closeness with God? If you haven't been there, what's keeping you from opening up, pouring out your heart to God, and giving Him the very best that you have to offer?

Scripture tells us that God wants us to keep seeking Him, to be close to Him. James 4:8 says, "Come near to God and He will come near to you." And in Jeremiah 29:12-13, "Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart."

Have you ever been in a spiritual desert, finding yourself so thirsty for the Word of God but not taking the time to drink your fill? It's too easy in this day and age of "Me First" to get focused on all the wrong things ... the promises of fame and prosperity and an easy life. Even if you don't buy into that, there are so many distractions (technology gadgets, tons of games to occupy the idle mind, commercials and advertisements with pretty people promising pretty results) that it's easy to spend time on all the wrong things. Not that it's wrong or bad to play a video game or use a GPS to find your way around town, but ... time spent away from God is time that could be spent nourishing that relationship with Him, drinking deeply from the fountain of life, staying out of the desert. And that's where the real richness of life comes from -- Him. Thinking back in my life, it was those periods when I was spending a lot of time in Bible study and prayer that I was at my best in all my other roles and responsibilities ... a good husband, a good father, a good employee, a good witness for Him, and a faithful steward of all that He's given me.

Think for a moment about those people whom you love the most. Think about how much you enjoy being with them, how your eyes light up when they walk into a room. God wants us to love Him even more than that.

"Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind," says Matthew 22:37.

God wants us to get to the point where we're thinking about Him all the time. How else could we possibly do what He asks in 1 Thessalonians 5:16:, "Be joyful always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus."

In Colossians 2:15, "Let the word of Christ dwell in your richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him."

When was the last time you memorized a Bible verse? How about a whole chapter? How about a whole book? It's doable, you know. Years ago I read the autobiography of Miss Johnson, the founder of Bible Study Fellowship. I recall reading that while she was a missionary in China, she met someone who had memorized the entire book of Matthew! I decided to try to memorize a book too, but I started with a much smaller book, Ephesians. Still, with its 6 chapters, it took me a while to get there. And for several months, while I was commuting about 25 minutes each way to work and back, I would recite it to myself in the car. My mind was filled with the Word when I got to work and it was filled with the Word when I got home. Now I'm not saying that life was easy and that problems didn't come up, but boy my heart was sure in the right place, and there was a joy and a peace that persisted through everything that could only come from Him.

Do I remember all of Ephesians now? No, regretfully not. What's keeping me from relearning it and then picking up another to memorize? Well, I uh ... OK, let's change the subject.

When a crisis occurs, what fills your heart? What words come out of your mouth?

Psalms 119:97 says, "Oh how I love your law! I meditate on it all day long."

In verse 103 we find, "How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth!"

Verses 57-58 say, "You are my portion, O Lord; I have promised to obey your words. I have sought your face with all my heart."

And in verse 62 we find, "At midnight I rise up to give you thanks for your righteous acts."

When was the last time you opened your Bible other than to answer questions for a Bible study or for any reason besides wanting to get to know Him better?

Hey, He's the guy who knows how many hairs are on your head. He's the guy who knows when you are sleeping; He knows when you're awake; and He's the guy who really knows whether you've been bad or good.

And He wants you to get to know Him better, to spend time with Him. The Word of God is there, available.

Is it in you?

Scripture taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. NIV®. Copyright© 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved.