Even though I didn’t get many wild strawberries this year, God blessed me with an abundance of blueberries. A friend invited me to travel to a pick-your-own blueberry farm, and we enjoyed a few hours there.

I started out picking the berries on the edges of the branches that were easy to get. But eventually I was pressing into the bushes, reaching in for the hard-to-reach ones. Then I saw the big berries on the higher branches I couldn’t reach.

As I pulled down one of those branches, pressing into the bush and reaching high for those desirable berries, the Lord spoke to me that He wishes I would desire Him like I desired those berries, and would press into Him and reach high for Him as I did for the berries.

What exactly does that mean, desiring God enough to press into Him? I think it means that we need to make God most important in our lives, put Him first at all times and desire to spend time talking to Him and loving Him. It’s a matter of priorities.

I thought about how many would just pick around the edges of the bushes and be satisfied with that. That is how some view their relationship with God. They are satisfied with their hour at church once a week, a prayer now and then when they need help, maybe reading a daily scripture. 

These are all good things, just as the berries on the edges are good. But there is so much more God has for us if we choose to press into Him.

God loves us so very much and wants so desperately to have a close, intimate relationship with us. His heart longs for us to desire Him like that – that we would love Him with all our heart, soul, mind and strength. 

He desires that we would long to be in His presence and live in close relationship with Him. He wishes we would spend our days walking and taking with Him, including Him in all we do and letting Him lead us into the best He has for us.

Another thing I noticed while reaching for the bigger, nicer berries is that I would try to get too many in my hand at once, and some would slip out of my hand before I could get them into the container. I hated losing those nice berries, so would slow down and be more careful and empty my hands more often.

I saw this as the times when the Lord gives me wonderful nuggets of truth, but I’m too busy to stop and contemplate and process those nuggets. If too much time passes, I’ve lost those lessons and they’re gone.

Now I’ve been picking blackberries around our property. Since these have thorns, it’s been a little harder to press in, but I’m still finding ways to reach the big berries on the higher branches or those in the middle of the bushes.

Again the Lord spoke to me that He wishes I would press into Him as I press in to get the best berries. The Lord has so much more for us than we can even think or imagine, and I don’t want to miss any of His good gifts and that close relationship with Him. Let’s make the time to press into the Lord and put Him first in our lives.

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