Dear Church of the Open Bible,
My kids don’t understand many things I do. I will often choose a second helping of stuffing and gravy, over a piece of cake, and they just don’t get it. Cake is cake! I say no chips and snacks after 9:00pm (usually), and they can’t believe it. Snacks were made for late-night eating! A few decades ago, I would’ve joined them in their wonder at these choices but my tastes are different. What I want and long for has changed, it’s different. Listen to David describe his tastes.
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.
So I have looked upon you in the sanctuary, beholding your power and glory.
Because your steadfast love is better than life, my lips will praise you.
- Psalm 63:1-3
When describing something I enjoy, like stuffing and gravy, I don’t typically use the phrase, “This is to die for.” But that’s what David is saying. The presence of God is better than life itself! He would choose it over anything else. This change in tastes only comes when one experiences God’s steadfast love in Jesus Christ. And this results in a life eager to praise God and be with Him forever. May we grow in this longing for His presence to be experienced among us and one day realized fully at His Son’s return.