Spoonful

It could be a spoonful of diamonds
Could be a spoonful of gold
Just a little spoon of your precious love
Satisfies my soul

Howlin' Wolf

The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want

Psalm 23:1

How often do we preoccupy our minds with the trivial things of this world? Often times when I go to bed, my mind rambles with injustices done to me that I want to make right, or with my plans for the next day, the next week, or the next month. I set up confrontations in my mind and then formulate a conversation or action where I come out as the victor, and my enemy is left feeling shamed. I plan out what I am going to do or how I am going to respond to certain situations that I think are unfair. Or I make grandiose plans and hope they come to fruition. Worry about tomorrow not only keeps me awake all night, but is blatant sin against my Holy Father, who has provided a way and a path, and has set all things in motion to work for my good. David realized this when he wrote this Psalm.

When we think of "want" it is often associated with some sort of material possession. I can't think of one "material thing" that I want. But I can think of thousands of "wants" that keep my mind rambling all the day. I want to be right. I want to show them who's boss. I want to make them pay. I want to be liked. I want to be thought of as smart. I want to be respected. I want my revenge and I want to use sinful means to accomplish it. I want to do nothing when I should do something and I don't want to do the things I ought. My wants ensnare my mind and make it hard to take captive my thoughts and make them obedient to Christ.

I want, better yet, I yearn for the Lord to be sufficient and to want nothing but to know him. Christ spoke about the emptiness of our worries and wants in the Gospel of Matthew, chapter 6:25-34.

"Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? Therefore do not be anxious, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. "Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.

Seek first His kingdom and His righteousness. My prayer is that seeking His Kingdom and His righteousness will be my only want, my only desire. Then I will truly know what it is to trust the Good Shepherd and to not want.