Are You Thirsty? – Psalm 63:1

1 O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water. 
- Psalm 63:1

Are You Thirsty?
How much do you need God? How important is He to you? How much do you really HAVE to have Him in your life? Oh, I know we can all give lip service to how much we need, love, and desire Him in our lives, but do our actions always back up our words? For me, the unfortunate answer is – not always.

If I am to be truthful here, I have to admit that there are days that I don't really give God too much thought. Oh, I say my prayers and I read His Word, but for the other 14 or so hours that I'm awake I have found that I have it in me to totally ignore Him. A half-hour or so a day is not enough time to maintain any kind of relationship - with anybody! 

David had it right – he felt suffocated when he was out of God's will and presence. He recognized his absolute dependence on the Lord and in this psalm he explains his absolute NEED to pursue God – so much so that he equates it to one of the worst deaths imaginable – dying of thirst in the middle of the desert. 

I recognize that pursuing God is something that I really have to change if I want to have a true relationship with Him. It wasn't easy at first – I mean it really took some effort to have an ACTIVE and constant relationship with Him, but as I chased after Him on a daily basis, seeking His wisdom and really looking for a deeper understanding of who He is and can be in my life, it became easier and easier, and before I knew it, I found myself holding little conversations with Him all day long. I could feel His presence and His Peace as I went about my day and this made me want more of Him – and I started to understand what David was talking about – my very soul thirsts for Him.

The Bible tells us to "seek first, the kingdom of God and all His righteousness..." and I finally understand that it doesn't mean to seek after God to get what I want out of life. It means to seek after God to get what He wants for my life. Seek after Him so that He and I can have the kind of relationship that He can use to effect change in this world – and in turn, I will be blessed. He will supply all of my needs because all I will ever need is Him!

Now is this to say that I have it all figured out? Of course not. I am still me after all. I fully understand who I am and what I am capable of and there are times that I catch myself ignoring Him again. Not because I don't love Him, but because I allow other things to distract me and I lose my focus. The beauty is that I catch myself now – I actually am catching myself mid-thought or mid-action, and I stop and ask Him to forgive me for not including Him in my action or thought. It's pretty awesome!

Do you want to start pursuing, chasing after, thirsting for God? Start by putting today's scripture by your bed or where you can see it first thing when you wake up in the morning. Put other scriptures around your home that remind you that He is your God. Put scripture in your car and on the inside of your closet door. Put scripture on the inside of your refrigerator and inside your cupboards. You can even put scripture inside your desk drawer at work. The point is to constantly be reminded that He is your God. He will always be on your mind and before you know it, He will always be in every thought and act and decision that you make throughout your day. Just do it, and before you know it you will be at peace, and you will find yourself smiling a lot more, and you WILL be blessed!

Prayer
Father, I thank You that You are ever present in my life. I am so grateful that I finally understand what it means to pursue you because my life is more at peace than it ever has been. I do thirst for You and I pray that as I dig even deeper into who You want to be in my life, and I increase my faith in You, that You can call me a man after Your heart - that is my greatest desire.

Have a blessed day everyone!