With my whole heart I seek you; let me not wander from your commandments! I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you. Blessed are you, O LORD; teach me your statutes! (Psalm 119:10-12, ESV)
Spring has been playing games in the Midwest. One day the weather awakens from its slumber into the upper 50s to lower 60s. The yellow daffodils stand at attention with strength and the tulips reach for the warmth. But hopes are dashed when another freeze descends and the chill returns to the air.
For many of you spring holds the opposite truth. Comfortable temperatures are becoming scarce, and in the blink of an eye the heat is approaching. While the Southern golfers contemplate a mid-year golf break, the rest of us are feeling the golf itch. It comes later for me than most, but I knew I had begun to feel it when I reached for a club out of my bag recently—the very bag that has been holding up the corner of my office for months.
Not only did I reach for it, but I started to stretch out my shoulders, an intrinsic movement my body remembers after decades of competitive golf. I even took a few slow-motion swings in my office (careful to not take down the light fixture) and pondered what it would feel like to hit a golf ball. It’s a slow process since I’m a fair-weather golfer. I will make the effort for a trip to the course when the temperatures warm into the 60s or higher.
When I go lengthy periods of time without meditating on God’s word, I start to get a spiritual itch.
Golf is a secondary hobby in my life. I can choose to participate, or I can choose not to. I can go months without touching my club and be perfectly content. I cannot take this same approach to my spiritual well-being, however. When I go lengthy periods of time without meditating on God’s word, I start to get a spiritual itch. It’s an uncomfortable, prickly discontentment.
As a follower of Jesus, my relationship with him needs nourishment. And only I can feed myself. I can snack on an email devotional or the Sunday sermon, but the main course is still and will always be the Scriptures when I make the effort to read and meditate on them.
As the psalmist poignantly tells us, we must seek the Lord with our whole heart, be connected to his commandments (God’s law and instruction), and store them within our hearts. Seek. Connect. Store. Actions words that take effort and time and commitment.
Please hear me… this is not a legalistic, check the box mentality. God longs for us to hagah the Scriptures day and night (Joshua 1:8). Hagah is Hebrew, meaning to “turn the words of God over in your mouth and let them saturate your mind” (The Bible Project).
My spiritual itch is God’s reminder to come to his table and hagah. Will you join me?
—
Tracy Hanson
April 29, 2021
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The Links Daily Devotional appears Monday-Friday at www.linksplayers.com.
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