How lovely is your dwelling place,
    Lord Almighty!
My soul yearns, even faints,
    for the courts of the Lord;
my heart and my flesh cry out
    for the living God.

Psalm 84:1-2

What does your soul yearn for− what does your heart cry out for?

I would imagine there are many possibilities.

As I sit here this morning thinking about it, this might be the question above all questions, the answer to which will tell us everything about ourselves. If my soul yearns for earthly things, say money or status or power, maybe for drugs or drink, possibly for love and romance… what would that say about my spiritual condition?

Yes indeed, there are so many possible answers…

Why is it that my soul cries out for God when I find myself in trouble, but when all seems well, things other than God have my attention? Oh yes, that says something about my spiritual condition!

I want to say that my heart and soul cry out for God, but if that were true, what would my daily life look like; would it look the same as it does now? Hmmm…

The things of this life are all around us, the pleasures of this life call out. The problems of this life are all around us as well; they aren’t easy to miss: The things of this life are ubiquitous in fact, and if my attention is to be on the things that are above, maybe I’m going to need to decide consciously to put it there, instead of on the things of this life. Yes, maybe I’m going to need to put my attention on God purposefully, deliberately, as a choice I make. After all, don’t our hearts and souls yearn for the things were pay attention to?