Blog – 5-21-20 So many things consume our time. I had big plans for this quarantine period, visions of a perfectly organized house and long-forgotten projects checked off my list. This would be my opportunity to get so many things done. Yet here we are eight weeks in, and I haven’t gotten half of the things accomplished I thought I would. Other things have consumed my time……and energy. I don’t know where the time has gone. In my quiet time today, I started reading Song of Songs from the Old Testament. It’s an interesting read, and it’s been interpreted many different ways. Some say it’s a metaphor for God’s love for the church; others say it’s a literal story about the love we find in marriage. Either way, it’s fascinating to read. There is a prayer that sets up this book in The Message that spoke to my heart this morning. Part of it reads: “Consume me with your love. May the flame that burns in you for me ignite my heart to burn for you.” Eugene Peterson (The Message) Isn’t that beautiful! I instantly latched onto the word “consume.” Consume means to engage fully, drink in, devour, chomp, ingest, put away. I instantly thought about the things we can get consumed with in our lives, things like our careers, our schedules, social media, news on this pandemic, our finances. The list goes on and on. Yet this prayer asks to be consumed, fully present, fully aware, totally filled up by Jesus. That is the place my heart and soul desire to be. The longer this pandemic goes on, the more I realize that right next to Him is the only place I will find true joy and peace. I also realize so clearly that the other things that consume my thoughts and my time are truly meaningless compared to simply being in His presence. Let me remind you, my friend, Jesus is literally right there beside you. The intimacy that you long for in your relationships you can have with Him right here, right now. And the best part is Jesus is consumed with love for you, yes, you! He is so in love with you that He willingly went to the cross to die for you. He has a fire within Him for you. What a beautiful picture that is! Don’t skip over this and not take this completely in, my friend. Take a moment to allow His perfect love to ignite a fire in your heart for Him. Dare to let your heart be overwhelmed to tears by His love for you. I’ve included the entire prayer below because it’s so powerful. I invite you to spend time praying this over your life and your soul. Take a minute or two or twenty! It will be worth it! Choose to be consumed with His love, my friend! Hugs and love, Jill
