One thing I ask from the Lord,
    this only do I seek:
that I may dwell in the house of the Lord
    all the days of my life,
to gaze on the beauty of the Lord
    and to seek him in his temple. (Ps. 27:4, NIV)

What draws me constantly into the affections of Christ are verses like these. There is a deep hunger in these words. When I come across these words in the writings of Scripture or in the writings of other spiritual giants, it simply draws me deeper.

I think of Mary sitting at the feet of Jesus and Martha telling Jesus to get Mary up and helping… and Mary won’t budge. Then, Jesus won’t let her. Mary had chose “the good part.”

There are lulls in my schedule and in those times I dwell on these passages and sense that longing. Unfortunately, there are also times when my schedule picks up and sprints and I don’t “feel” that longing. Yet, I come to these passages, even on a busy morning, and find this longing all over again.

Even in a hectic schedule there is time to gaze on the beauty of the Lord. There is some aspect of his creation, his character, etc., where I can focus for a brief time… and breathe.

Even in a hectic schedule, I can come to worship on a Sunday and hear the voice deep within calling: “Seek his face!” And my heart responding… YES.

I am going through this exercise of the affections of Christ because my heart cried out: “Seek his face!” and then the cry of my heart in Ps. 27:11 said, “Teach me your way, Lord!”

And out of that, the Lord spoke and told me I didn’t need another book or to re-read another book on affections of Christ. I was to pour out what I was learning after decades of walking with him.

The affections of Christ come out of a deep walk with longing. It is not over a few months. I draw from Abraham and Moses on this: it is decades. It is, to borrow from Eugene Peterson, a long obedience in the same direction. All the detours. All the attempts to stop too long and think about turning back… all of it. These are the affections of Christ. These are the lessons.

At the core of the affections of Christ has been the deep longing of Psalm 27. I want to gaze at his beauty. I want him to teach me his ways.

I am grateful for the decades given to walking with him. Should he grant me this grace, I look forward to decades ahead.

It is Christ alone.

One thing.