Love Affair of the Heart
We have sailed too close to shore, having fallen in love with life, we have lost our thirst for the waters of Life. ~ Sir Frances Drake
And he (Elisha) said, “Take the arrows,” and he (Jehoash, King of Israel) took them. And he said to the king of Israel, “Strike the ground with them.” And he struck three times and stopped. Then the man of God was angry with him and said, “You should have struck five or six times; then you would have struck down Syria until you had made an end of it, but now you will strike down Syria only three times.” (2 Kings 13:18-20)
What a strange story. It is one that will leave you shaking your head. Elisha was a prophet from God sent to give Jehoash a message. Elisha just ended up getting angry. Why?
Because Jehoash lacked enthusiasm/passion.
How many times as Christians we pray, “Father tell me what to do and I will do it.” I know I have. But God is not only a God that desires obedience he desires passionate obedience.
There is a saying we tell our kids: delayed obedience is disobedience. Even if you eventually end up doing the right thing, you did not obey when you were first told. Delayed obedience is telling the other person you are indifferent or don’t care about them.
God does not want us as robots just doing the right thing, he desires us to have a passionate heart to obey him. This is why God said, “I have found in David the son of Jesse a man after my heart, who will do all my will.” (Acts 13: 22) Even when David sinned, whatever David did he was passionate about it.
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Are you following God like a robot?
Do you do things in your spiritual walk just because that is what is expected? (prayer, quiet time, etc..)
Is your Christian walk more like a duty instead of a dance?
As a wife longs for her husband’s touch, so God longs to be desired by you. As 2008 comes to a close and we enter into 2009 spend some time thinking about your Christian walk. Have things have become mechanical? If so, ask God to help you desire him more.
Yes there will be seasons in your Christian walk, but just like a marriage the passion and desire needs to still be there. God does not want you out of your obligation, God want your heart, your soul and most of all, your passion.
A.W. Tozer said, “God waits to be wanted.”
Heavenly Father, more of you, less of me, that is my desire. Give me a heart like David. Help me to choose living a life of desire over self-protection, to give you my dreams and be vulnerable before you. As the song says Father, “Lord I give You my heart,
I give You my soul, I live for You alone.” Help me to desire you more.
Wishing you a Merry Christmas and Happy New Years!
I’ve established the habit of quiet time each morning. It makes such a difference in my day too. I know that because when I occasionally miss, my husband notices my attitude is less patient and kind.
But there are times when I think I settle into the routine with less passion and desire. I go through the motions. And I hate this! I want to be passionate about spending time with the Lord. I know it’s such a privilege but I allow my “feelings” to interfere instead of knowing what I know about God. He is unchanging, regardless of what I’m feeling.
Thanks for this reminder. I think I’ll get offline and spend time alone with Him now.
God waits to be wanted.”
Laurle, you wrote this for me today. I thank you so much. God wants my obediance and there is no wiggle room..Thank you.. Thank you… Merry Christmas!!
Bless you sweetie. I join you in this heart felt prayer.
Laurel,
What a great reminder today that our Savior desires intimacy with each of us. It is my desire to seek Him passionately! Thanks for sharing….Laurie
Thank you so much for your blog. It teaches and convicts me so much. It also encourages me to keeping on walking.
Thank you!
SherylDean
I’ve thought about something like this for some time now Laurel. It was a verse that spoke about giving lip service to the things of God. It just pierced my heart. I don’t want to talk a good talk; I want to live deeply the relationship the Lord wants to have with me. I want to be authentic.
This was a wonderful devotional.
Hi Laurel,
Thank you for this reminder… He’s truly all about relationship. He’s always there, waiting… never tires, never sleeps… just waiting for us to want Him.
Blessings,
Marsha
I love this reminder! Thank you for sharing so beautifully!
It is true, Laurel. We often just ‘fall into’ a mechanical motion in our Christian walk. We do things automatically; as you said – like a robot. But God does want our heart, not our motions…
Thank you so much for sharing from your heart…