Spiritual Maxims - #2

"We must keep our eyes fixed on God in everything we say, do or undertake. Our goal is to be the most perfect adorers of God in this life as we hope to be throughout all eternity. We must make a firm resolution to overcome, with God's grace, all the difficulties inherent in the spiritual life."

Here is paragraph two of Brother Lawerence's Spiritual Maxims. Of all the various points he makes in this chapter, I think this one both makes the most sense, and best sums up all the others.

First, "We must keep our eyes fixed on God in everything..." I think a great scripture to illustrate this is Colossians 3:1-2. It reminds us to constantly be seeking those things which are above, instead of being constantly distracted by those things which are below. Here, Brother Lawrence, wisely, does not say that in doing this we should cease doing the earthly tasks we are charged with, but rather that in them, we should have our minds steadfastly fixed on God. Whether at work, at home, or whatever, we should maintain a constant awareness of God's very real presence with us.

Second (and my personal favorite), "Our goal is to be the most perfect adorers of God in this life as we hope to be throughout all eternity." Psalm 27. Psalm 84. David said that he only had one thing to ask of the Lord - that he could dwell in His courts forever and gaze upon His beauty. In other words, the one thing David craved more than anything, was Presence. He wanted to be WITH God always, face-to-face. I wish that my ONE desire was that. And yet, this is what Practicing the Presence of God is all about. It is about coming to a place where the awareness of God permeates your life in every area, from the mundane to the magnificent.

The thing that really catches me is that word "adorer." I want to be an "adorer" of God. I'm not sure I even know how exactly to adore anything! When I hear the word "adore," my mind immediately goes to ponytailed girls in circa 1950's poodle skirts, swooning over the High School quarterback as he walks by in his letter jacket...Why? I don't know. As bizarre as it may seem, I don't think that image is so far off the mark. Shouldn't we sort of "swoon," in a spiritual sense, in God's presence? Shouldn't we be so distracted when He "walks by" that everything else sort of fades away, and our eyes are fixated on Him? Weird, I know. I never want to become complacent about God's presence! I want to be awed by Him as often as possible. I want to "gaze upon His beauty all the days of my life."

The one last thing that stuck out to me in this was how he made reference to us being "the most perfect adorers of God in this life as we hope to be throughout all eternity." The idea is profound. Think about how you will worship God in heaven...Think about how fixated you will be. Think about how nothing will be able to distract you from His glory. Think of the love you will feel. That's how we ought to be now - or at least, it ought to be our goal to be like that now.

Let's be perfect adorers of God today!