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 have seen you in the
sanctuary and beheld
your power and your
glory.

Because your love is
better than life my
lips will glorify you.
Psalm 63:1-3

Ten summers ago, I was a camp counselor in Iowa at Pine Lake Christian Camp.
Although I almost drowned in a canoeing trip that year — it was a great summer.

It was my formal introduction to humidity, fireflies, the Midwest,
lots of nice people — and acres and acres of sweet corn.

The corn in Iowa is bigger, juicier, sweeter and just plain better than corn
anywhere else.  And it’s pretty much ruined my opinion of corn anywhere else.

Psalm 34:8 says “Taste and see that the Lord is good.”

When you have really tasted of the Lord and experienced the life that is
found in Him  — it ruins everything else.

As it says in Psalm 63– His love is “better than life”.

I love my wife.
My daughter.
Traveling and exploring.
Taking photos.
Cooking (and more importantly, Eating!).
And to an extent, working.

But I’ve tasted of the Lord, and He is far better than all those things.

And I have to confess —it’s ruined my life.
Not in a negative way at all.
Quite on the contrary — it’s the best thing that ever happened to me.

Because when you’ve tasted the goodness of God —
you are free from the hold of life.

I still love my wife.
My daughter.
Traveling, photography etc.

But it’s doesn’t hold me.

Take every gift and every dream from me —
and give me Jesus.

Because His love —
it’s better than life.

May our lives be ruined
in the presence of the Lord.

There’s no better way.