Mostest

This is old but thought I would upload it since I am just starting this thing!

Last week I was on a date with my daughter Harper. She was busy telling me about all that she wanted for Christmas when she paused and asked me, "Daddy, what do you want the "mostest" for Christmas?" Shocked by the sudden pause in her exhaustive list, I thought for a while and told her that what I wanted most was for "the brothers" (the twin boys we are trying to adopt from Peru) to be home for Christmas. At that moment my 4 year old theologian quickly responded, "Daddy, the only person that can bring the brothers to us is God, we just have to keep praying that God will do that." You see, she said that because we do pray for that every night along with their prayers for toys, yummy food and good weather. Driving and choking back tears I began to think about the things the both of us want so deeply. I mean on one hand, it seems obvious that asking Jesus for an adoption is a much more worthy request than Elf on the Shelf or a cupcake maker. But is it? I mean could it be that my fixation on what God can get me is just as absurd as asking him for a plastic toy? No matter what it is, if I desire it more than Jesus, then he is not supreme and the affections that belong to him are now bent toward what he can get me. In those moments I am just a religious sinner whose desires are more acceptable to the culture but are no more pleasing to God who demands to be first place in everything. That thought, that idea, has caused me to wrestle with the gospel in a new way. Is Jesus really enough for me? Or do I find myself longing for what he can get me? (a perfect marriage, obedient kids, a successful ministry, etc.) If the gospel is true, then what must be ultimate, what must be my greatest desire, where I find true joy, is in the person of Jesus. Period! The message is clear, I get God! So, as I watch my kids unwrap their gifts this year, I will do it with a fresh perspective. I will know that whether we get what we want, even if we ask it from Jesus, we have been given God. And that……is what I want to desire the "mostest." Every moment of every day I want to press into Jesus more deeply and to want more of him, regardless of what additions he may or may not bring my way.