Verse of the Day - Proverbs 2:1-5

My child, listen to what I say and remember what I command you. Listen carefully to wisdom; set your mind on understanding. Cry out for wisdom, and beg for understanding. Search for it like silver, and hunt for it like hidden treasure. Then you will understand respect for the Lord, and you will find that you know God. ~ Proverbs 2:1-5 (NCV)

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I remember my daughter's first day of Kindergarten. She had wanted to attend a full year prior but was only four and was too young. At five, she was READY! She had her backpack with a notepad and pencils and everything! She wanted to learn so badly. And after the third day of school, she came home and said with frustration, "Mom -- they're still learning their shapes!" Not sure if she thought she was going to learn astrophysics or calculus, but she wanted MORE than 'shapes'! :-)

Have you known someone who was so hungry for something that nothing would stop them? Maybe it was the chance for a better life and they went after an education, maybe it was the love of a sport and a desire to be the best at it. Their hunger drove them to pursue, to acquire, to achieve. And let's face it -- without this hunger, many things in life simply go unpursued, unaqcuired, unachieved.

The same is true for wisdom, knowledge and understanding. The same is true for knowing God.

How many of us are floating on the surface of our spiritual life, like a piece of driftwood, aimlessly rolling along, with no direction, no purpose, no drive? Worse than being spiritual driftwood is being content to be spiritual driftwood. Where is our hunger for God? Where is our passion for His presence and influence in us? What makes us content with the mediocre?!?

I think there's a large percentage of believers in Christ that do not hunger for Him, that do not crave His wisdom, knowledge, and understanding. They don't seek Him as if He were hidden treasure. They don't pursue Him at all costs, as if nothing else in the world mattered more. So I have to ask myself: Am I like that? Am I spiritual driftwood? I think you have to ask yourself the same. Why? Because God deserves an honest answer out of all of us. He gave everything to have an intense, intimate relationship with humanity, and if we're Christ followers, we should desire that intense intimacy out of our love for Him. If it's not there, something's wrong with our spiritual insides. Something's wrong with our hunger.

This isn't meant as a guilt trip, but rather as simply a call to a deeper life -- a life that hungers after God, that pursues His heart and character and essence. That pursues Him and Him fully.

Love,
Joelene