My children are head over heels. The one who is studying in Cape Town can’t wait for 14:00, because then she can jump in her car and rush home – the boyfriend stays just around the corner. Then they spend the whole weekend together.
Sometimes, amongst all the talking, I hear they’ve seen one another during the week too…
My other daughter doesn’t have distance on her side. The Free State is a long way away. But they’re not bothered about this, they Facetime and WhatsApp for hours on end. And now and then a surprise visit. “I came with the bus, Oom.” Even if it’s just for a night or two…
I can still remember those days. The days when I had just met Renata. Look, you would do anything to spend time together. Something inside you simply can’t get enough. Something that is insatiable. Even though you spent a whole day together, you want to spend just a little more time with one another.
I suspect it’s the same longing David had just to be in God’s presence. In Psalm 42:2, he says: I’m thirsty for God-alive. I wonder, “Will I ever make it – arrive and drink in God’s presence?” And again, in Psalm 63:2, I’ve worked up such hunger and thirst for God, traveling across dry and weary deserts.
I see a picture of a person who stumbled through the desert for days with no water. All that person can think about is water. Every second of the day he is dying for a few drops of water. As he wakes up all confused, the first thing he thinks of is water. He calls out for water. He screams to the heavens: “O, God! Give me water!”
In the same way, David thirsted for God. In the same way, we must thirst for God, but we don’t. We are far too busy. We are too busy keeping our heads above water. We are so concerned with ourselves that God just fits onto the edge of our lives. Actually, we don’t even have time for ourselves. And for sitting quietly with God even less.
I long for those early days when Renata and I couldn’t get enough of one another. I long for the nonstop talking and being together. Nowadays I take everything for granted. And as a result, I don’t create enough special moments to focus on her only.
But I realise that business is the reason. We’ve become so used to one another that we no longer appreciate what we have. We’ve allowed our busy lives to come between us and other things to become more important than spending time alone with one another. And so, we lose out on special moments.
We can turn this around. We can long for one another again if we reorganise our priorities. We can long for one another again if we break down the busy things that life has put up between us one by one.
It’s the same with God. We are still God’s first love. He longs for us. He wants to spend so much more time with us. He thirsts after us. But the walls we have put up divide us.
Let’s consciously break down those walls. Let’s make a point of meeting up with God and to thirst and yearn for Him, because then we will be less fixated on the world. Then we will long for Him and for the day that Jesus will come again: 13This new life is starting right now, and is whetting our appetites for the glorious day when our great God and Saviour, Jesus Christ, appears.
Scripture
Titus 2:11-14
Reflection
Do you really thirst for God?
Are you filled with expectation for Him to come again?
What can you do to re-establish your first love for God?
Prayer
Lord, when I think about You coming again, I’m afraid. I’m still so stuck to this world. Please reinstate my first love for You. The love that centres on You, where everything else is less important. In Jesus’ Name, amen.