God is Our Focus

Most of all, God is our first love. He is not just a source we turn to when we are out of our depth; He is the One who walks beside us at all times because He wants to be near, speaking and sharing His thoughts and feelings, having fellowship throughout the day.

He has the host of heavenly angels, vast multitudes of powerful, efficient servants, continually filling heaven with God's praise in obedient worship. But His love for us has caused Him to seek us out and pay our way back to Him at incredible personal cost, regardless of whether we accept the offer or not.

He lays Himself open, vulnerable, showing His love, offering His riches, making no prerequisite demands on us, accepting, caring, loving. We are the focus of His love; when we catch a glimpse of what that means, we cannot help but return His love to the best of our ability, unskilled and clumsy though it is.

He assigns attendants to take care of our needs, ministering angels of which He has plenty. He doesn't want our attention diverted as it has had to be with daily worries of how to stay warm, how to find scraps of food, how to avoid accident and injury. Those needs are met through His promise so we can give our attention to Him, focus on how to grow in our relationship with Him, learn of Him by listening to what He says, come to know what He likes and dislikes, be able tell when He is pleased or displeased.

We still go through our daily routine, of course. Any relationship occupies us internally, but those around us see results of our relationship through our responses to the things that happen around us all the time. They can see into our hearts by how we behave. Do they see sadness, sorrow, disappointment, resentment, heaviness? They certainly used to. But as we respond with acceptance to the wooing of the Spirit which brings us God's personal messages of love  and courtship, as we start to open our hearts in response and send messages of love and worship back, that becomes reflected in our outer behavior, unconsciously, and others note that we must have a secret love.

Do we carry a little smile on our face as we go about the day because we are thinking of the love and special little blessing God sent to us a short time ago, something that no one else would have noticed, but we caught it and realized it was just from Him to us? Do we overlook the things around us that used to frustrate us and drive us to grit our teeth, ignoring them simply because we are too busy thinking about the latest love note we found when we were reading the scriptures?

Turn your thoughts to the Lord today. Listen with your heart to the words and feelings the Spirit brings to you. Feel the richness and depth of His love for you. Pour your heart out to Him; He will accept you without criticism because He loves you.

Psalm 94:19 When anxiety was great within me, Your consolation brought joy to my soul.

When we look to You, Savior, all else fades and grows dim. You have captured our hearts. Other things vie for our attention, but the noise fades into the background and is lost. You enfold us in Your love, and we relax in Your embrace. Feed us with Your words of life, lift us with Your spirit of joy, satisfy us with Your continual presence, change us so that we can no longer enjoy what the world has to offer. Put Your mark on us and seal us as Yours, that others can see we have been in Your presence and belong to You. We love You, Lord!

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