This song by Misty Edwards, called Arms Wide Open, has such amazing words:
And then I saw Him there, hanging on a tree, looking at me
I saw Him there, hanging on a tree, looking at me
He was looking at me, looking at Him, staring through me
I could not escape those beautiful eyes
And I began to weep and weep
He had arms wide open, a heart exposed
Arms wide open; He was bleeding, bleeding
Love’s definition, love’s definition was looking at me
Looking at Him, hanging on a tree
I began to weep and weep and weep and weep
This is how I know what love is, this is how I know what love is
And as I sat there weeping, crying
Those beautiful eyes, full of desire and love
He said to me, “You shall love Me, You shall love Me
You shall love Me, You shall love Me”
With arms wide open, a heart exposed
With arms wide open, bleeding, sometimes bleeding
If anybody’s looking for love in all the wrong places
If you’ve been searching for love, come to Me, come to Me
Take up your cross, deny yourself
Forget your father’s house and run, run with Me
You were made for abandonment, wholeheartedness
You were made for someone greater, someone bigger, so follow Me
And You’ll come alive when you learn to die.
I was reading Prince Caspian to the kids, and this may sound silly to you but, God even spoke to me through that. Lucy is this character who delights in Aslan, and all she wants is to be with Him. Even when everyone else stops hoping in Him and lets circumstances stand in the way, she is faithful to Him and in complete adoration of Him. She just loves Him.
Then I spent a whole day with my lovely and amazing friend, Anastasia, and I just saw her whole heart on fire for God, and realized how much I lack of it. We had the best conversation that day.
And it hit me...that's all He wants from me..my love..my whole heart. My whole adoration. Not dutifully obeying Him with reluctance, not at all.
My New Year's Resolution list is going to be different from all the previous years. In fact, it's not going to be a list. It's going to be one prayer.
My prayer is that God will make me fall in love with Him...
only then will everything fall into place.