God Is...My Preference

"Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’[a]" -- Matthew 22:37 (NIV)

A few weeks back, I was sitting in a conference listening to a man teach about desiring God. He was explaining why we should desire God more than anything when he came to this scripture. He read it, and then he broke down this scripture in a way that I'd never heard.

He said: "If you break down the word heart here, you will find that the heart is an organ of preference -- not performance. So the scripture should read ... Love the Lord your God with all your PREFERENCE."

He moved on in the sermon, but I was immediately struck with conviction and I haven't been able to drop the thought since.

I love God deeply, there is no doubt about it ... but do I prefer Him more than anything? Is He my first choice always? When the rubber meets the road is He my preference?

It is so easy to get tangled up in the things that are happening in our lives, the classes we take, the social clubs we are apart of, and the different roles that we take on that we lose sight of Him as our preference.

I often times find my conversations with God sounding a little like this:

"Jesus, I love you, but I'd rather watch Netflix than pray right now"

"Jesus, I love you, I really do, but I would much rather go hang out with my friends than read my word right now."

"God, I know that you want me to go minister to that person, but I am writing this paper right now. I'll do it later."

Not now. Maybe later. I will when I'm ready.

I sat there, in tears as I realized that as much as I loved Him... He wasn't my preference.

In Matthew 6, Jesus tells us that where our treasure is, our heart will be found also.

I love my Mom's dogs, with all that I am, but when Miles (my puppy) cries... I will drop both Toby and Theo to go see about him.

Why? Because Miles is my preference. He is my treasure.

When my treasure calls, I answer.

That is where I want to be with God.

I want to prefer him so much, I want to hold Him so dear that whenever he calls? I drop what I'm doing and I answer.

No hesitation.

No delay.

I think this is an area we can all grow in. So whether you're a young adult, married with children, a student or single -- whatever stage you find yourself in:

Prefer Him.

Chase Him.

Treasure Him.

Engulf Yourself in Him.

He's worth it and so worthy of it.