"Pick of Destiny"

"One thing have I desired of the LORD, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the LORD, and to inquire in His temple." (Psalms 27:4) No pun intended here, but what we pick as our number one desire matters more than we might otherwise realize! As I have sang this verse many times over the years, it should have been one that I have become very familiar with, and I should have it's meaning firmly planted within my heart; but have I really made it my prayer? And when I mean prayer, I mean that which I earnestly pray for and seek after. As with anything that we strive for, or that we seek to accomplish in our lives, we do so with determination towards achieving the things that will bring us closer to that goal; and consequently, we also avoid doing the things which will hinder us from reaching the goal that is set before us. Just as a runner that is training for an upcoming race, will practice winning that race by continually trying to beat their own best time; each time they run, they put there mark ahead of that which they had accomplished before. They also know from experience, what it is that makes them sluggish and weak, so they avoid eating those foods or doing those things which will cause them to be off of their game. It's very much that same way with our desire to be close to God. We know those things which cause us to be ashamed and unwilling to seek His fellowship, so we should be avoiding them and practicing only those things that will bring us to our number one desire; if that truly is our number one desire, or is it something that we might think we want, but we continue stuffing our face with junk food and soda? If it were truly the prayer and the desire of our heart, then we would earnestly seek after those things that bring us closer and closer to dwelling in God's presence; and pushing away from and avoiding everything that does not bring us there! You know, the one thing that prevents a runner from not giving it his all, is that he does not truly believe that he can win the race; therefore, he does not push himself as if to win, but is content with just trying to finish..."Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain. And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible. I therefore so run, not as uncertainly; so fight I, not as one that beateth the air: but I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway." (1 Corinthians 9:24-27)