The Fifth Gift of Easter

Do you know what I think the last gift of this week is?  It's obsession.  Not a perfume, mind you, but an honest-to-goodness, all-out obsession for God.  Do you have that kind of obsession?

Are you willing to say that you love God more than ____________?  Fill in that blank.  Shopping?  Your spouse?  Alcohol?  Food?  Television? 

To be honest, when I put it that bluntly, I realize there have been things in my life, times in my life, when I have not been able to say that.  But I want a new life!  I want to love God more than anything.  I want to be passionate about Him, excited about Him, obsessed with Him.

I want people to know God when they know me.  I want obsession!  I want to be like the women at the tomb on Easter morning (yes, I've already used this scripture this week, but come on!):   "On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb. They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. While they were wondering about this, suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning stood beside them. In their fright the women bowed down with their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, 'Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here; he has risen! Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee: "The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, be crucified and on the third day be raised again."'  Then they remembered his words.  When they came back from the tomb, they told all these things to the Eleven and to all the others. It was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the others with them who told this to the apostles. But they did not believe the women, because their words seemed to them like nonsense."

I want to be like these women!  I want to tell others of the resurrected Jesus!  Who cares what they think of me?  Someday they'll realize the truth, just like the disciples did.

We all know the scripture in Deuteronomy 6:5 about loving God with our heart, soul and strength.  But that's not all the verse says to do.  Look at the next passage, verses 6-9:  "These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts.  Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.  Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads.  Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates."

We aren't just to love Him, and stop right there.  It's supposed to be all over us!  We're supposed to talk about this love, show this love, inscribe this love.  That's obsession!  When was the last time that you talked to a friend about how much God loves you?  About how much you love Him? 

What's stopping you from being totally obsessed with God and His love for you?  Whatever it is, figure it out, and put an end to it!  Make this Easter an heart-changing, brand-new day for your Love relationship!  Become obsessed today!