Who is this King of glory? The Lord of hosts, he is the King of glory!(Psalm 24:10)

To have found God and still pursue Him is the soul’s paradox of love, scorned indeed by the too-easily-satisfied religionist, but justified in happy experience by the children of the burning heart.

Saint Bernard stated this holy paradox in a musical quatrain that will be instantly understood by every worshiping soul: “We taste Thee, O Thou Living Bread, and long to feast upon Thee still; we drink of Thee, the Fountainhead and thirst our souls from Thee to fill.”

Come near to the holy men and women of the past, and you will soon feel the heat of their desire after God. They mourned for Him, they prayed and wrestled and sought for Him day and night, in season and out, and when they found Him the finding was all the sweeter for the long seeking.

Moses used the fact that he knew God as an argument fo knowing Him better; “Now therefore, I pray thee, if I have found grace in thy sight, shew me now thy way, that I may know thee, that I may find grace in thy sight”; and from there he rose to make the daring request, “ I beseech thee, shew me thy glory”(Exodus 33:13,18) God was frankly pleased by this display of ardor, and the next day called Moses into the mount, and there in solemn procession made all His glory pass before Him.

David’s life was a torrent of spiritual desire, and his psalms rang with the cry of the seeker and the glad shout of the finder. Paul confesses the mainspring of his life to be his burning desire after Christ. “That I may know Him”, was the goal of his heart, and to this he sacrificed everything. “Yes doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord; for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ.” (Philippians 3:8-10)

One of the lessons the virus has brought is that we often take things for granted. Most of us took for granted that shopping, working, visiting family and friends would always be available whenever we desired. Many took for granted that the church would be open for worship every Sunday and if they missed a few services, they could always catch the next one. We often take life for granted. After all the sun comes up every day and we wake to another day and life continues. There are those who were bored with the routines of life. But the effects of the virus has made known to us that nothing is sure forever.

Relationships often suffer from the disease of “taking for granted”. Many couples live in the same house but lose the pursuit and passion of love. They take for granted that their spouse will always come home, that the chores will be done and the activities they do together will continue. So they go through the motions of marriage and some become bored and look for other avenues to find love and excitement again. As I have talked with couples who have been married for many years, I’ve observed that there are marriages where the couple stayed together for the children’s sake, for the sake of religion(they didn’t believe in divorce), and for financial reasons(they couldn’t afford to live on their own). Thankfully I’ve met other couples that after 50 and 60 years of being together, they were still pursuing each other. It was beautiful to listen to them talk to each other about their love and affection and care. I remember one couple that both were ill. He was on hospice with congestive heart failure and she had dementia. I watched the both of them go to great lengths to make sure the other was being taken care of. I saw them display affection and love. I watched the husband will himself to live until their house was sold and they moved to a facility and the wife adjusted before he died. What power this kind of love has.

I’ve also seen the same thing in people’s relationship with God. I’ve seen those who came to the altar and the baptistery and never seemed to pursue God further. I call this relationship “fire insurance”. Just enough of God to get me to heaven. I wonder what these will do in eternity. We all take for granted that God will always be available but the Bible records that there were those that God left. I’ve also, thankfully, seen those who don’t seem to be able to get as close to God as they want. They constantly seek Him and the more they find Him the more they seek Him. Some may call them spiritual fanatics. Some may see them as taking “religion” way too far. Some attempt to place these in a special category. I know for me that sometimes even my closest friends have said, “John, be reasonable, live life, don’t be so passionate about God”. But for me the more I know Him the more I want Him.

I shared some of my story with some of you, but I want to share again a piece of it. After being saved for a couple years and struggling with my walk with God, I was on the verge of giving up when God graciously baptized me in the Holy Spirit. Whatever you may believe, I can tell you that this experience was beyond salvation. I did not actively seek any of the manifestations or experiences I’ve had since, but I knew I needed and wanted more of God. At that time I was working in the church, playing guitar, teaching junior boys, leading the youth group, and serving as a deacon. I was pretty content but this love of God and for God was increasing. It seemed no matter what I was experiencing with God there was still a deeper desire. Somewhere in the process, God’s call to ministry came. I’d seen enough of the dark side of church that I didn’t want that responsibility so I began to draw back from God. At the same time I got a job offer in South Carolina and moved there. Finding a church to attend, I walked into First Assembly of God in Beaufort, SC. I will never forget the song they were singing that morning and it’s my theme song.

“I keep falling in love with Him

Over and over and over again

I keep falling in love with Him

Over and over and over again

It gets sweeter and sweeter

As the days go by

O what a love between my Lord and I

I keep falling in love with Him

Over and over and over again

The church sang that little song several times through that Sunday morning and the dam of my soul broke and in that moment I fell madly in love with Jesus. From that moment my desire to please Him became the driving force in my life. No longer a reluctant servant, no longer resisting His call and plan for my life. Everything had changed. There have been many times since that God has asked me to go or to do things that I knew in my head were going to be difficult but my heart always responds yes. I don’t preach or pastor or serve from some sense of duty or religious obligation. All that I do, I do because this Jesus I’m pursuing is pursuing me and everyday He makes His love more known and everyday I keep falling in love with Him. I pray this is your relationship with Him. If not, I pray you will go before God and ask Him to make Himself known to you. If He does that, I promise you that to see Him is to fall in love with Him.

I pray that if you are married that everyday you will fall in love with your spouse. I know they’re not perfect and for me I’m glad Sherry’s not, otherwise she wouldn’t want to be around me😊 Our journey together has has its bumps and struggles. Lots of things have changed in life but everyday we continue to pursue our love for and from each other. There’s a lot of grace and forgiveness required in any relationship. There has to be an acceptance of the one you love as they are. If we could change them, they wouldn’t be who we fell in love with. Sherry and I have come to the place in our marriage that we accept that. Not that what I do doesn’t still drive her crazy or vice versus but we choose our love over the irritants.

With God, since He is perfect in all His ways, He’s easy to keep falling in love with. What amazes me is that He keeps loving me and showing me more of His love every day.

Dr. John Thompson