Consume devotional

Consume

"One thing have I asked of the LORD, that will I seek after: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD and to inquire in his temple." (Psalm 27:4 esv)

Each and every single one of us has a choice laid out before us. Whom or what we will choose to follow. It could be anything; a car, job, material possessions, a boyfriend or a girlfriend, maybe even a title or an honor. We could have the best job, the coolest car, and the hottest boyfriend/girlfriend, but there will still be a void. Many times we consume our lives and our thoughts with getting ahead, making more money, buying bigger and better possessions, but strangely enough, the void grows larger. The emptiness we fill inside can only find satisfaction when we seek the One who can offer a truly fulfilled life. ("But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish that I may gain Christ and be found in Him..." Philippians 7-9 NIV) Jesus Christ must be our top priority, our number one. He must be the One and only in our lives, our all in all. Jesus is constantly drawing us closer to Himself. He desperately desires an intimate, love relationship with us. However, it takes effort on our part to maintain that relationship. We must put forth all our time, energy and love into seeking Him, therefore nothing or no one else can rival Him. Isaiah 46:9 says,

"...I am GOD, the only God you've had or ever will have--incomparable, irreplaceable. (MSG)

Here I will venture to ask you a deeply personal question: What is your passion and desire? What consumes your thoughts and actions? Is it Christ or something else? Consider this poem I found in Beth Moore's book, Further Still. It can be a sincere prayer each and every one of us can pray to make Him our everything, our uncontested love and joy in life.

Consume Me, O Lord
Consume me, O Lord, flood my soul with Your Son. Leave nothing uncovered, leave nothing undone.
Set me on fire, consume all my dross. Make beauty form my ashes and gain from my loss.
Consume me, O Lord, be the life in my bones. Put your head in my marrow till Jesus alone.
Can set me aflame with Your holy fire, unquenchable passion, exquisite desire.
Thrill all my senses with sacred romance; consume me, O Lord, come bid me to dance.
Down streets paved in gold a pure virgin bride, nothing to run from, nothing to hide
Consume me, O Lord.

Now that most of you are on summer break, this is the perfect opportunity to be swept away in His love and become enraptured in a sacred romance, with the love of your life. I pray that you can find time to spend with Him, reading His Word, and talking with Him. I also pray you can find time to walk around in His creation and admire all the wonderful things He has done for you.
I know it is difficult to find time for Him, with all the great things summer has to offer. The sun, the beach, the mountains, hikes, the pool, vacations, and so on, but I want to challenge you. I would ask that right here and right now you would make a commitment to know Him better. I challenge you to set a reasonable goal in which you will spend time with Him each day, and set a pattern of discipline that you can follow throughout the summer, into next year and the years to come. You will create a habit that will benefit you and your relationship with God forever!
What is more, you will find yourself worrying less about the things this world has to offer, and seeking out the things of God more and more. Jobs, cars, and possessions will loose their luster in comparison to Jesus Christ, who encompasses all that is good. Our perspectives on life will change as we strive to help those who have less than ourselves and reach out to a hurting world with the hope of the gospel message. However, we will never make an impact on this earth until we make Christ our unsurpassing joy, laughter, hope, desire, breath, and life. When He consumes our deepest depths, then and only then, will people see God more valuably than all the power and success the world has to offer. They too will want to choose Him above all else, because they see you living it out daily!

Let this be the cry of our hearts; In the path of your judgments, O LORD, we wait for you; your name and remembrance are the desire of our soul." (Isaiah 26:8 ESV)

P.A.