Back to basics

I am working on a study of the bible for a friend of mine who is just learning about it. This is something I've done before, but not in years. It's an opportunity to step way back and look at my faith from a fresh perspective.

In Donald Miller's book Blue Like Jazz, he talks about a college girl and her friend, who study their bibles with chocolates and cigarettes. I love the mental image that presents to me. All threat of cancer aside, there is a certain attitude of applying some relish to the delight of each of those activities. If you and I were to treat God's Word as a privilege and an indulgence, I think we'd find it more attractive. More delicious. We'd spend more time on it.
Maybe chocolate and cigarettes aren't your thing. What about Cigars and whiskey? Or Sushi and caviar? The point is the savoring of something so exquisite, as to be a sought out pleasure.
This is what I want in my pursuit of God.
After all, isn't God the One who chose the imagery of a Lover? If only I could allow God to Woo me! His words would run through my mind, and heart, like something tantalizing and captivating. My mind would rest on Him with a sense of thrilling expectation. My fascination with His every Word and Act, would border on the obsessive.
When I am attracted, I am distracted.
When a man has my attention, I have a hard time not thinking of him. This is, I think, partly why God uses this imagery in Scripture. He wants me to respond to Him with the same intensity and thrill.
This is what I see in my friend who is just learning about God. She is falling in love.
This is what I want to cultivate in myself. No marriage can afford to grow stale. No romance can sustain a fire without careful tending.
My goal for my faith is to Fan that Flame!
Cultivate desire.
Seek out the passion.
As I watch my friend learn to love Jesus, I want to see His beauty anew. And I want to be swept off my feet, again.