With Every Breath, I Long to Follow Jesus
By Sarah Hanlon, Tampa, Florida
What do you consistently think about?
For one person, it may be clothing.
For another, it could be building a home and new decorations.
For some, it might be continual anxiety over tests or how their child is behaving at school.
For others, it may be concern for their aging parents or a friend’s health.
We are always thinking about something. Usually, if we aren’t talking or consuming information, we are thinking. Have you ever considered how often you talk to yourself? It’s truly shocking to stop and think about how often we are thinking and spending time in communication with ourselves.
Personally, I tend to think about songs. I love for a song lyric to get stuck in my head, especially when it’s an intentional one with a purpose-driven message. The older I get, and the more I see and experience tragedy and trial, I find myself singing this lyric from CityALight over and over:
“With every breath, I long to follow Jesus
for He has said that He will bring me home
and day by day, I know He will renew me
until I stand with joy before the throne
To this I hold, my hope is only Jesus
all the glory ever more to Him
When the race is complete, still my lips shall repeat
Yet not I, but through Christ in me.”
When a lyric like this gets stuck in my head, it’s what consumes my thoughts. I’m consistently wrapped in thought with longing to be with Jesus and giving all the glory to Him.
When I was young, thoughts of Jesus consumed me out of fear. I was scared of hell and wanted a way of escape. When I was a little older, thoughts of Jesus consumed me out of respect. I knew it was the right thing to do, and that He was the King of Kings. Yet the older I get, with every passing day, thoughts of Jesus consume me because I love Him. I long to be with Him, and I ache to bow in worship to Yahweh my God. That’s why I love to have this song stuck in my head.
So, I’ve decided that I’m no longer just talking to myself when I’m thinking. I’ve renamed it as my constant conversation with the Lord. He already knows my every thought, so why not welcome him into the conversation? I truly believe this is what Paul meant when he told the church in Thessalonica to “pray without ceasing” (1 Thes 5:17).
I originally liked this concept because it just makes logical sense. If I’m going to think thoughts, why not acknowledge God is listening rather than formally bringing the same thoughts to Him at another time? But the more I practice this “praying without ceasing,” it’s less about the logic, and I’m realizing more and more that it’s something we need to get accustomed to because it is the ultimate victory: constant communion with Yahweh our Lord.
We spend our days on this earth girding up and covering ourselves with God’s armor so that we may stand against the schemes of the devil so that we may dwell in the house of the Lord. We go to battle day-in and day-out in order to gain a victory in the end, but do we stop to consider what the victory is?
I am continually drawn to David’s heart and his Psalms because he is consistently and constantly thinking of the victory. These Psalms are a collection of his deepest thoughts - his constant conversation with Yahweh.
Have you examined David’s heart behind his petitions?
Psalm 142:7 he says, “Bring my soul out of prison, so that I may give thanks to Your name”
Psalm 119:17 he says, “Let me live, so that I can praise you”
Psalm 51:15 he says, “Open my lips, so that my mouth may declare Your praise”
Even in the midst of David’s deepest laments, he says, “I will praise God’s name in song and glorify Him with Thanksgiving” in Psalm 69.
David’s heart was set on the victory. His every ask, his every longing, his heart’s deepest desire was to be in God’s presence so that he could praise Him for eternity. He went to a physical battle as a soldier of Yahweh’s. He lived the physical “standing against the schemes of the devil”, and his heart remained set on the true victory: not a crown, not a temple made with hands, but “to stand with joy before the throne.”
Revelation gives us a glimpse of what the day will be like when we reach the victory. It reads in chapter 7:
Then one of the twenty-four elders asked me, “Who are these who are clothed in white? Where did they come from?” And I said to him, “Sir, you are the one who knows.”
Then he said to me, “These are the ones who died in the great tribulation. They have washed their robes in the blood of the Lamb and made them white.
“That is why they stand in front of God’s throne
and serve him day and night in his Temple.
And he who sits on the throne
will give them shelter.
They will never again be hungry or thirsty;
they will never be scorched by the heat of the sun.
For the Lamb on the throne
will be their Shepherd.”
So you’ve dedicated your life, and you’ve put on all of His armor: His truth, His righteousness, His peace, His faith, His salvation. All gracious gifts from our good Father.
Are you ready for the victory?
What do you consistently think about?
Is your heart longing to stand in God’s presence, to praise Him and serve Him day and night?
It’s our eternal reward - an everlasting Eden, walking in the garden with God our Father.