Good Morning Everyone,
Our theme for this month: “Playing by the Rules”
Our Bible verse for today: “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.” Psalm 63:1 (NIV)
Our thought for today: “God wants us to live with passion for Him.”
Psalm 63 is one of my favorite Psalms, especially that first verse. In this Psalm King David expresses a passion for God that energized his whole life. David’s thinking about God, and his feelings for God were the motive force that drove his life and what we end up with here, is a picture of what the Christian life should look like.
David lived life large and he lived it with passion and enthusiasm. But it was a largeness of life that came from a God-given vision of what his life was supposed to consist of, and it was passion and enthusiasm that grew out of an awareness of the fact that he was indeed living the life God had chosen for him.
What we’re seeing modeled for us is a general rule for living well and living big in the kingdom of God. Vision, passion, enthusiasm, a searching and seeking after God – these are the things that motivate great men and women of God. A life of faith that is lukewarm and mediocre is missing something vital at its core.
And please note that nobody gets to live life in a bubble. Nobody floats through life in some sort of detached, other-worldly state of nirvana. People like David are real people who have to deal with real problems. They have highs and lows, good times and bad, joys and sorrows, trials and temptations. In other words, their lives look a lot like your life and mine. And yet … they train themselves to walk through life with passion and enthusiasm, seeking and searching after God. The writer of the letter to the Hebrews described it as “keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus.”
Here’s some more of Psalm 63. As you read it pay particular attention to David’s attitude:
“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.
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. 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. Because you are my help, I sing in the shadow of your wings. My soul clings to you; your right hand upholds me.”
Are you consumed with thoughts of God? Do you long to know Him better, experience Him more, and find satisfaction in Him? A lukewarm Christian is missing something vital in his or her relationship with God and none of us should ever be satisfied with such a life. David wasn’t, and I pray you won’t be either.
God Bless,
Pastor Jim
Oak Hill Baptist Church 