The Most Important Thing In Life

SCRIPTURE: Psa. 27:4-5 The one thing I ask of the Lord" the thing I seek most" is to live in the house of the Lord all the days of my life,  delighting in the Lord’s perfections and meditating in his Temple. 5 For he will conceal me there when troubles come; he will hide me in his sanctuary.  He will place me out of reach on a high rock.

OBSERVATION: David discovered the same bit of truth that Jesus' friend Mary demonstrated hundreds of years later--there is nothing more important that we can invest our lives in than simply hanging out in the presence of God. It is so easy to get so busy serving Him, like Mary's sister Martha did, that we miss the more important pursuit--being with Him, delighting in Him, meditating on His goodness.

David says that he wants to "live in the house of the Lord". Its not that he wants to put his kitchen and bedroom in the temple, but he wants to be where God is at all times. Our challenge is to find Him in our "living room". In that place where He lives inside of us--where He meets us when we take time to look for Him. We are the temple of the Holy Spirit and if we slow down enough and wait we have the chance to encounter Jesus at anytime inside His temple--our hearts.

David knew something important; when we are consistently pursuing that presence of God inside of us, and troubles show up (as they do, from time to time), we have a place to run to escape anxiety and fear--the temple, the sanctuary, our own hearts where we have discovered a God who is personally meets us there to comfort us.

APPLICATION/CONFESSION: I know my own tendency to do rather than to simply be with Him. I so desire to learn more and more the simple and profound pleasure of intimacy and closeness to Him. I am learning to prioritize being with Him over doing things for Him. Its a whole new way of looking at and living life but one that expresses the values of God's Kingdom instead of the Kingdom of this Earth.

PRAYER: As Paul said, Lord I want to know you. I want to come so close to you that I can learn the secrets of your heart and become like you. Give me the grace to lay down my busyness, even when my ego is attached to it, and pursue knowing you as first priority in my life. Remind me that this is the path to peace and even effectiveness.