Sunday, April 13, 2014

What is your greatest desire?

I admit. I do daydream in church. But, that’s also why I bring a spiritual notebook with me. If you’re curious, it’s teal and has little golden dragonflies on it. I am constantly writing things down as the sermon goes on. I draw, doodle, scribble down ideas, and yeah, that’s just how I process information – no matter who is speaking. So, today, I was incredibly inspired to write a blog loosely based on the sermon and somewhat based on ideas that have been floating around in my head. Here are a few things that I wrote down in church (which may or may not have been spoken in the sermon verbatim): Be part of something extraordinary. With God, comes hope. What are your priorities? What do you make time for? What is the primary thought in your mind on most days? What is your greatest desire? The last thought really struck me. What your greatest desire is right now, in any kind of earthly sense, will not necessarily be your desire tomorrow or in the future. I think about this often (oddly enough) whenever I am with my girls at Orange Leaf. You know? The yogurt place? I’ve noticed that a high percentage of the people who walk in to Orange Leaf are almost frowning. Not that it’s a bad place to be. It’s not! What’s striking about the frowning is that it’s a really, super awesome place to be, not to mention, tasty! What, What?! It’s not like going to get a flu shot or something. (It’s flippin’ yogurt!) At Orange Leaf, you get to put all kinds of neat-o toppings on the yogurt and mix and match flavors – whatever you desire in Yogurt Land. Yet, so many people that walk in have pained expressions on their faces. They grab a bowl and do the necessary evil…you know…“get yogurt.” Oh, gah! Sometimes, they don’t even talk to the people that they walked in with – weird – right? They sort of chow down in silence, stare into space or mess with their phones. So, here’s the thing about that scene. If your “greatest desire” is not spiritually based, I think that it would be like going to Orange Leaf. So, you’d walk into the “Greatest Desire Shop;” get what you desire most (with all the fixings) – and it could be anything – love, a relationship, marriage, children, money, a college education, a job or a better one, and the next thing you know, you’d want something else once you get it. Maybe not right away, but a few years down the road, your greatest desire would probably shift. So, what IS your greatest desire? What do you live for? What do you spend your days working toward - ultimately? Have you even thought about that? I think it’s a question worth pondering. After all, wouldn’t you want your greatest desire to be something that is worth your time? Many of us are guilty of packing our lives with so much “stuff” – activities, etc. All those expectations and all those obligations that are oftentimes, not even truly necessary. We pack our lives with them and our kids’ lives with them, and we’re constantly running around in circles – without even thinking about what we’re doing. (What are we doing?) So, be honest with yourself. What is your greatest desire? If you could have it, right now, would you ultimately be satisfied for the rest of your life? If your greatest desire is not in any way spiritually based, then it is not lasting. It will rust. It will fade. It will rot. All in time, it will become meaningless. Seek what’s true. Seek what’s lasting. Focus on what truly matters in eternity.