“Now set your heart and your soul to seek the Lord your
God…” (1 Chronicles 22:19)
Set your heart and
soul to seek the Lord! What exactly does this mean? How am I supposed to set my
heart and soul to seek the Lord? How does this even apply to purity? Well, ask
these questions: What is your heart set on doing or accomplishing? Is your
heart set on getting married? Is your heart set on getting that cute guy’s
attention? Maybe your heart is set on trying to just talk to him. Is your heart
set on winning the big game coming up, or making it onto the team, or training
to be the best at that sport? When your heart is set on accomplishing
something, your life becomes automatically devoted and even consumed with that
challenge.
While I was growing up, my dad taught my sister, my brother,
and I to surf, skateboard, and snowboard. We all love these sports and we would
often do them as a family. We had tons of fun, but I loved snowboarding with a
passion. I liked surfing, but I wasn’t all that great at it. I was so fearful
of big waves, so that affected my ability. Skateboarding was also scary,
especially after I smacked my head on the concrete. Ahh, but snowboarding…there
is no other sport like snowboarding. I would fall time and time again, break
bones, scratch my face, smack my head, bleed, and still have passion to keep on
going. A few years ago, my heart was set on becoming a professional
snowboarder, and I was willing to commit my life to accomplishing this goal. I
wanted to snowboard as a career more than anything. I was devoted and consumed
with this sport, and I was almost about to get my chance. I never competed, but
I was planning on starting. I worked at a skateboard and snowboard shop so I
had the connections I wanted. I spent all my paychecks on this sport. I bought
a brand new board, new boots, new gloves, goggles, pants, and other little
things. I owned a lot of old stuff (a year old), but I always needed the “new”
stuff that came out every year. I even went out and bought a giant trampoline
so I could practice with my snowboard on it. So basically, I had all the right
equipment, I worked in the right place, I rode with the right people (who were
much better than me), and I was willing to go all out for this. Yeah, I was
consumed. For a while snowboarding was all I would talk about, think about, and
all I wanted to watch. There were some great guys I worked with who would take
me snowboarding every week and teach me new tricks. These guys taught me so
much and I was so grateful for them. I got to ride with some surf shop managers
and I met some professional snowboarders and had the chance to ride with them
as well. I improved immensely with their encouragement and coaching.
But without even realizing it, I had put my walk with the
Lord on the back burner. This is not at all how I wanted my life to be, but
because my heart was set on snowboarding there was no room left for my heart to
also be set on the Lord. I didn’t wake up one morning and say, “Lord, You have
been so good to me, but now I am going to put You on the back burner and put
snowboarding first.” No, I slowly began to compromise my beliefs for
this sport. To make a long story short, I never became a professional
snowboarder, I never competed in any competitions, I ended up moving to Hawaii
(not a snowboarder’s paradise), and quit snowboarding at the end of January
2003. I haven’t snowboarded since. That was one of the best but hardest
decisions of my life; however, the whole point of this story is to show you
what I had set my heart and my soul on seeking, how I became so devoted to it,
and how consumed with something you can become. So ask yourself the question,
“What am I devoted to and why?”
“Therefore be imitators of God as dear children.” (Ephesians
5:1) Being an imitator of someone is one of the greatest forms of worship.
I desired to be a professional snowboarder, so I basically worshiped the sport
and gave almost everything to be great at it. When your heart is set on seeking
something or someone, you will become devoted and consumed by what you are
pursuing. You will become a worshiper of that goal. So if your heart’s desire is attracting that
guy, getting that guy’s attention, or getting married, your life will revolve
around that and your desires will consume you. Your thinking can become
distorted as well. Because my heart was set on becoming a pro snowboarder, I
sacrificed my relationships with my closest friends and I ignored the Holy
Spirit’s voice. Having your heart set on a certain goal can become a problem.
You can easily fall into compromising your morals and beliefs just so you can
get exactly what you want, and that becomes such a dangerous place for you to
be in. I was consumed with snowboarding and it easily could have taken my life.
That is what being an imitator of something other than God will do to you.
