Single-minded Devotion

UV 623/10,000 Single-minded Devotion “One thing I ask of the Lord, this is what I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to seek Him in His temple.” Psalm 27 v 4 David the shepherd-king asked only one thing of the Lord. He did not ask for wealth or wisdom or power or long life or blessings. He asked only that He may have continual fellowship with the Lord. He wanted to spend time, all of His time in the presence of the Lord. He wanted to gaze or admire the beauty and graciousness of the Lord as a lover gazes upon his beloved. In our personal relationship with God, we are called to enjoy this single-minded and whole-hearted devotion to the Lord. Neither the beauty or the temple mentioned in this uni-verse is a physical manifestation but a spiritual presence of God in our bodies, His temple. We must continually seek Him with prayers, supplications, fasting and worship. The beauty of the Lord is His glory and grace revealed in the character and person of Christ. As we gaze or look with fixed and focused attention on Him, we will be transformed into His image, degree by degree. The beauty of God should be revealed in and through our lives. The secret to manifesting that beauty is to spend time in His presence, time in prayer and time in studying His Word with a view to know more about His nature. We need to enquire of the Holy Spirit who dwells within us to reveal more of the Lord. Many people seek the Lord only on one day in a week or on special occasions or when they face difficulties that they cannot solve, but the Psalmist urges us to seek the Lord at all times, to dwell in His presence all the time. Our hearts and minds are the virtual tabernacle or temple of God. These are not earthly residences made by the hand of man but a temple made by the hand of God. We should now shift our gaze from the hands of God as to what blessings we might receive to the face of God so that we reflect His light, His radiance and inner, eternal and ineffable beauty. Prateep V Philip