My typical routine Monday through Friday is to be up around 5am to exercise for an hour. The first half hour which takes place in our finished basement is dedicated to cardio rotating between my stationary bike, treadmill, and elliptical machine. The second half hour takes place upstairs in our guest bedroom where I focus on weight bearing, stretching, and balance exercises. The guest bedroom window looks out onto our backyard where I often observe a bunny or two munching on clover. One particular morning I was surprised by a visitation of a deer standing perfectly still in the backyard. I was listening to a CD by a group called Glad. The lyrics of one particular song were exhorting everything that has breath to praise the Lord. It almost looked like the deer was listening as it was looking in my direction. The deer stood there for almost ten minutes. Finally it moved on, walking into our next door neighbor's back yard. This was an exciting moment as deer aren't frequent visitors to our home. This appearance reminded me of the verse from Psalm 42:1-2a, "As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, my God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God." (NIV)
How thirsty is your soul?
The deer was looking for something that drew it into our backyard. I fantasize that when it heard the music from my CD it was drawn to the words that exalted the living God. The One who created every living creature on earth. I began to think about how much does my own soul thirst for God? How deep a relationship do I long for with my Lord? It's very easy in the hustle and bustle of everyday life to establish a surface relationship with God but how often do we really take time to be still enough and know He is God? (Psalm 46:10a) My desire to know God on a deeper level is echoed in Paul's prayer for the church in Ephesians 3, "...And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord's people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge--that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God." (Ephesians 3:17b-19) I pray that like the deer who was possibly drawn to the music, my thirsty soul will be drawn ever closer to the living God.
Peace and Blessings,
Pastor Sheree
