My First Blog Post

  So I've never blogged before in my life, but I decided I would give it a try because I have tons of thoughts and have been dying to get them out before I explode.  Before I left college for the summer, one of my campus ministers gave me a challenge to try during my break.  He asked me to read and struggled with Psalm 63 with my goal being to come back to school with that passage as my song for the rest of my days (and yes those were his exact words because I saved the message).  I thought about it for a long time and decided I would give it a try.  I was very leery of it though because I usually start studies or challenges like this with good intentions, but I eventually end up forgetting or just losing interest.  But I think my campus minister knew what he was doing when he brought it to my attention because it has stuck with me to no end since I first thought about it.Psalm 63:1
O God, you are my God,
earnestly I seek you;
my soul thirsts for you,
my body longs for you,
in a dry and weary land
where there is no water.


  I often find myself saying a prayer similar to this when I'm in trouble or at the end of my rope.  And now that I read this, I wonder how much closer I would feel to God if this were my daily, or even hourly, prayer and plea.  While reading through Psalms over the past several years, and especially the past few months, I have been constantly struck by the boldness of David - no wonder he was referred to as a man after God's own heart.  In Psalm 7, he tells God to let his enemies overtake him if he is guilty and then asks God to judge him; I don't know if I would ever be so bold to ask God to do either of those things.  And once again in chapter 63, David boldly declares God as his God.  This passage was most likely written by David while he was hiding in the Desert of Judah from his enemies.  I keep asking myself, "Would I make such a bold declaration without any hesitation or doubts if I was going through such a hard time like David?"  I know I've been "upset" with God when I was going through things and I wasn't having to hide out in a desert somewhere.  But the very first line David writes is one of praise and glory to his God.  The rest of the concepts found in verse 1 are probably the most difficult ones for me to grasp. I often find myself earnestly seeking things, but they aren't all God or even Godly things for that matter.  Of course I look for ways that God may be working, but that's usually when I'm wanting him to confirm something I want to do.  What does earnest even mean?  According to Webster's New World Dictionary, 
earnest means: serious, important, in a determined way.
When we seek God, He should be the most important thing we're going after.  Probably the one that hit me the hardest was the statement "in a determined way".  If you've ever met me, you know that I'm a very independent and determined person.  When I make up my mind to do something, nothing or no one can sway me.  So I can do that for earthly things like grades, career choice, or even leadership positions, but I can't do that for my God?
  So that's all I have for tonight, but I have a few more thoughts to finish this one off, they just have to marinate for a while (get it, my blog is called Meat of the Matter).  And just in case you're wondering why it's called that, I have showed and raised cows for the past 8 years of my life and I thoroughly enjoy it and since I'm going back to the basics, I thought it was only fitting.