Please enjoy today’s beautiful guest post by Elyshah Narlock.
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“But know that the LORD hath set apart him that is godly for himself.” – Psalm 4:3
When I read that passage of Scripture for the very first time, I felt like I was seeing God
in a completely different way than I ever had. I felt a sudden, closer relation to Him than I ever
had before, a certain understanding. God—the Creator of the most ferocious star, of the most
beautiful flower, the deepest of canyons, the vastness of seas, and the immeasurable expanse of
the universe . . . THIS God created it all and could have His choice of any of it for His own
purpose and pleasure. But He didn’t want any of those things. His only reason to create every
single one of those beautiful parts of nature was simply to amaze you. Why? Because He was
achingly lonely for someone to love and to be loved in return. And so, the Lord in the Heaven of
heavens which cannot contain Him, set His heart on the godly—and set them apart for Himself—
the one thing He created for His pleasure.
But love is only true love when there is choice.
In the current day we live, many live in a delusion of misconstrued love. Today, the
meaning of love is twisted into some form of conditional, mistrusting, and self-serving
happiness. But God in His infinite wisdom, BEING love, defined love as selfless, serving,
unwavering, and faithful. And this kind of love does not diminish when life happens—instead, it
grows. In all of this, we are offered a choice. Not the choice to please ourselves, but the choice to
be free to set our heart entirely on pleasing another. To treasure their existence and put their
well-being above our own wants or needs. The choice to make them our priority. That’s true
love. And this type of love has the most rewarding and greatest return!
Hebrews 11:5 tells us, “By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death . . . for
before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God.” What a reward! What a return!
God was SO pleased with Enoch, that He set Him apart for Himself. He translated him so that
Enoch did not even have to taste death, but was immediately enraptured into the presence of
God. Yet, I am certain Enoch did not know that that was God’s plan for him. He didn’t seek the
reward, or “what was in it for him” as a result of communing with God. He just sought to please
God because he loved Him. He yearned to meet the desires of the heart of God.
We all know and love the Biblical figure, King David. Before he became king, we are
informed in I Samuel 13 that the Lord was looking to end Saul’s prideful kingship, and that He
was seeking a man after His own heart. This we know He found in David. Generations later,
even through all of his humanly faults, God makes certain that everyone for every generation to
come knows that He set apart David for Himself. His Spirit moved on the apostle Paul to write in
Acts 13 that “I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after mine own heart, which shall fulfil
all my will.” David—a man who God Himself chose to be a part of the lineage of the long-awaited
Messiah—God in flesh! That is reward. Yet, it was not a reward sought by David. For as
the Bible clearly states, He was a man after God’s own heart.
This reminds me of a beautiful song called “When They Look Into My Eyes”:
They tell me, ‘You’ve got eyes exactly like your Father
And the smile you wear reminds me of Him, too
The way you talk, the things you say sound so familiar
Why, you must be like Him in everything you do . . .’
. . . When they look into my eyes, do they see His love revealing?
A place of hope where every broken heart finds healing
Let me be the voice that knows the words to say
But most of all reflect Your life in every way
I want to be so in love with God that when people look into my eyes, they don’t even see
me—they see Him. One of my absolute favorite Scriptures describes it so perfectly this way: “I
delight to do thy will, O my God; yea, thy law is within my heart” (Psalm 40:8). I delight to
know that I am doing His will. I want my heart to replicate God’s heart through and through. I
want to love what He loves and hate what he hates. I want to please Him! Not for the reward of
Heaven, but simply because I love Him!
I don’t want to just make God a priority; I want to make Him my LIFE. In this day and
age where so many live for themselves, or practice religion without relationship—we can show
them that true joy comes from knowing God and loving Him thoroughly. But more importantly,
we can give God what He has long desired since the beginning of time. You and I have a quest, a
mission: to captivate the heart of God.
Captivated. THE God of the universe—captivated, by you.
As a lover of music, books, and world travel, Elyshah enjoys the opportunity to learn about other cultures and try new experiences. She is learning the Hebrew language as she coordinates and assists her family in hosting trips to Israel. She grew up ministering in Word and song with her family, and to this day, singing is one of her greatest passions. Her primary desire is to serve God with every part of her heart and hold the torch high for others to see!
Follow Elyshah on Instagram: @elyshah89