Journal Entry // February 5, 2021
One thing have I asked of the LORD, that will I seek after: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD and to inquire in his temple.
Psalm 27:4 ESV
What is it that the Psalmist longs for and is the desire of his heart? Fellowship with the Lord.
- Dwell in the house of the Lord… To spend every moment in the presence of the Lord. To have fellowship, communion, relationship with the Father.
- Gaze upon his beauty… To simply focus heart, mind, and soul upon the Lord. To be captivated by his goodness and to spend intentional dedicated time focused exclusively on him.
- Inquire in his temple… To bring the burdens and anxieties of this life before the Lord. To lay my worry and guilt before him. To know that I can cast off these burdens and see the freedom that comes from obedience.
There is one thing that the Bible reiterates consistently throughout. Well, there are several, but in my purpose today I will think about one. That theme is time. Time is our precious commodity of life that is more precious to us than anything else we may think we possess. My circumstances may change and my relationships may vary, but my allotment of time in this life is set by the Lord. This is one thing we all have in common and the one thing that we each can spend with our own choosing. There is no difference in quality, but there is in quantity. Each moment in a person’s life is valuable. Each moment is an opportunity to spend your most valuable resource. And lest we forget, that resource of time is being spent even as we forget that it is always being spent.
So the fundamental question is, “how am I to spend my time?” I was thinking about this last night as I was reading a novel. The book is well over a thousand pages and is a bit intimidating in the sheer size of its thickness. I was thinking about how far I have gotten in the book simply by reading eight to ten pages a night. Just the slow passage of committed time, even small amounts, become deep dives into a project or activity. If that is true for something simple like reading a book, then it is even more so for the weightier matters of life (justice, mercy, faithfulness). How I chose to spend my time every moment is like adding a drop of water into a bucket. Each drop may seem insignificant at the moment, but over time this bucket reveals not only the state of our heart, but the change. The slow and deliberate change of our heart.
So, what will I invest with each moment of my life? Will it be centered on me or on Jesus? Will I seek to dwell in the house of the Lord? Will I gaze upon his beauty? Will I inquire of his wisdom? These are the weighty things of life I must determine are important. These are the things I should be concentrating on. Every moment is precious and not to be wasted on my selfish pride and arrogance. I want to learn how to dwell in the house of the Lord. I need to see my heart being drawn closer and closer to Jesus. Intentionally…