Whom have I in heaven but You? And besides You, I desire nothing on earth. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. For, behold, those who are far from You will perish; You have destroyed all those who are unfaithful to You. But as for me, the nearness of God is my good; I have made the Lord GOD my refuge, that I may tell of all Your works" (Psa 73:25-28).It just took my breath away and I had to stop following the words and just examine the heart. See what the author, Asaph, is saying? "Whom have I in heaven but You?" What does that mean? It carries an explicit relational aspect. "You, O God, are the relationship I seek." It carries a value aspect. "Heaven isn't important to me; You are." We generally think of heaven as a wonderful destination. Asaph is saying, "I don't have any reason to go to heaven if it's not You." He's saying, "I want nothing on earth, and heaven is only valuable to me because You're there. God is my strength. God is all I need. Anything else is certain destruction. To me, my good is Your nearness. While the world around me falls apart, You are my refuge. You're the only thing that matters."
I haven't arrived yet. I bet Asaph hadn't either. That's okay. That's just the direction I want to take ... need to take. It's so easy to get distracted. The world is bombarding us with so many other things. But this ... this is what really matters. Not riches or fame or comfort. Not pride or success. Not stuff. Nothing on this earth matters and not even in heaven ... except Him. Lord, turn my heart ... to You.
2 comments:
I've heard the question asked, "If you could go to heaven and Jesus wasn't there, would you still want to go to heaven?" The correct answer is the one Asaph gave, "Only where the Lord is is where I want to be." But far too many of us are guilty of being willing to go to a heaven that has no Lord. I don't think it is a sign of a lack of salvation, but is a sign of your progress of sanctification. Just like, when we are first saved it is typically out of a fear of eternal damnation, but part of sanctification is moving on from fear of hell to a love of Christ and a thankfulness for forgiveness.
"I want nothing on earth, and heaven is only valuable to me because You're there.” Indeed. God’s presence is what will make heaven heavenly. And it’s His presence with me now that makes earth bearable--even wonderful--as I wait for heaven. My future is definitely looking up!
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