Confession 206: Made For More

I recently started reading the book Made to Crave by Lysa Terkeurst.  It's a non-diet book that seeks to battle weight loss by replacing desire for food with a desire for God.  One of the things that has impacted me the most is Terkeurst;s assertion that we were made for more than this.  In the book, the this refers to the negative eating cycle many women find themselves revolving through.  Yet as I read that statement, I realized it applies to more than my bad eating habits.  It applies to my life.  Looking around at my life, I am forced to acknowledge that I am, indeed, made for more than this.

Let me qualify the this.  I'm not talking about my family, or my bank account, or my town.  I have a beautiful family, live in a wonderful community, and God is making sure our bills get paid mostly on time.  The this I am referring to is my self-centered, self-indulgent nature that leads me into discontentment.  The this is my aimlessness that comes when my purposes for the day revolve around a bottom line rather than around God's kingdom.  I am, indeed, made for more than this.

So, what am I made for?  First and foremost, I was made to love God.  What is the greatest command?  According to Scripture it is to love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul and with all your strength. Deut. 6:5  When we love God with all of our being, our focus is completely on him.  And what would he have us do with this love?  Jesus tells us, "My command is this: love each other, as I have loved you." John 15:12  The apostle Paul goes so far as to say the entire law is summed up in the command to love others!! (Galatians 5:14)  God wants us to have an abundant life, but that abundance only comes when we let go of ourselves and seek after God.  And it is a spiritual abundance, not material.  If we seek after material abundance we're going right back to the this of which we were made for more.  Which I do, too often.

Therefore, I am recommitting myself once again to living the life I was made for.  I will endeavor to give God my first-fruits.  I will seek him in the morning and I will follow him throughout my day. I will work to use the gifts and talents God has given me for his kingdom purposes, not my own.  I will attempt to live into this prayer:

I am no longer my own, but thine.

Put me to what thou wilt, rank me with whom thou wilt.

Put me to doing, put me to suffering.

Let me be employed by thee, or laid aside for thee,

exalted for thee, or brought low for thee.

Let me be full, let me be empty.

Let me have all things, let me have nothing.

I freely and heartily yield all things to they pleasure and disposal.

And now, O glorious and blessed God,

Father, Son, and Holy Spirit,

thou art mine, and I am thine.

So be it.

And the covenant which I have made on Earth,

let it be ratified in heaven. Amen

(John Wesley, 1780)