Day 24   May 17, 2006

Read:  Psalm 63

 

Reflection: 
O God, my God; my soul longs for You; my flesh longs for You in a dry and thirsty land where there is no water. 
So I have looked for You in the sanctuary, to see Your power and Your glory. (Psalm 63:1-2)
This world is not our home.   Not even the source of our joy nor personal fulfillment.  Deep in the heart of every person lies a hunger for something out there, a meaning bigger than what any of us can see.  Some meaning.  Because this meaning must be searched for - diligently sought - many have given up and convinced themselves and others that there is no ultimate meaning - that the hunger is an illusion and the search is foolish.  Such is the end of those who look at this world as all there is, that that which can be seen is the only reality.  But we are of those who know of a transcendent reality.  Not just something out there, but Someone.

Adoration:  
Lord, I love You because You have made the first step toward us.  You are the fulfillment of our hunger for eternal truth.  You allow Yourself to be found, not when we look at Your creation, for that only testifies to Your power and creativity - it is not You.  But when we look for You in the way You have revealed to us, You will be found.

 
Confession: 
Lord, it is so tempting to look at this world as our home.  It is so close to our senses, demanding of our attention.  We are physical beings, with physical needs and physical sensations.  We get hungry and thirsty, cold and wet, hot and dry.  It is so easy to forget that we are also spirits, inhabiting physical bodies.  And it is only by the spirit that we can experience You, the origin and end of our lives.

Thanksgiving: 
Lord, I am thankful that You have put within me a desire to seek after You.  For without Your drawing me, I wouldn't even want to look for You; and without the desire to seek You, I would not have even found You.

Supplication: 
Lord, I would ask that You would put into the hearts of more people a desire to seek You.  To become so hungry for the eternal that they would cry out to You.  To become desperate to see Your working in this world, and in their lives.  For without this hunger, they would not see their need, nor see You as the answer to that need.

Prayer:   
Lord, we come into your sacred place because we thirst for Your presence.  When we look into the world – everything around us that we can see, feel, and touch; we only are partially filled.  Since this world has an immediate attraction, we can be so easily fooled into thinking that is all we will get.  But You have so much more for us than we can imagine – if we would only look beyond what is right in front of us.  And we will ultimately praise You for rewarding those who diligently seek You.

 

Rich Gitschlag
Tillamook Christian Center