The Affections of Our Heart Will Determine the Orbit Of Our Lives
“Like the Earth orbits
around the Sun, we orbit around what we love.”
~Rande Greene
An orbit is the
gravitationally curved trajectory of an object such as a planet around a star,
which follows an elliptical orbit with the central mass being orbited at a
focal point of the ellipse.
~ Wikipedia
When an object continually
changes direction, it is said to be accelerating. According to Isaac Newton’s computations,
the direction of the acceleration is towards the Sun and is the cause of the
magnitude of the object’s acceleration according to the inversely proportional
square of the planet’s distance from the Sun.
In layman’s terms, we see an
increase acceleration around the focal point as the distance decreases between
the Sun and the other object.
Although the distance
between two objects has a large bearing on the rate of acceleration so does the
mass of objects.
The 'weight' that something
carries in our lives is directly proportional to the degree of affection that
we have for that ‘thing’.
We will orbit around what we
love. If we love Jesus- that affection
will provide a gravitational pull that will reorient our lives if we get off
track, aligning our orbit around the Son once again.
In order for us to realize
where our affections lie we must be willing to examine our affections.
Ephesians 5:15-17
So be careful how you
live.
Don’t live like ignorant people,
but like wise people.
Make good use of
every opportunity you have,
because these are evil days.
Don’t be fools, then, but try to find out
what the Lord wants you to do.
What we love and hold in
affection will determine how we live.
If Christ is at the center
of our lives then the trajectory of our lives will be dictated by the magnitude
of our affection for Him.
What do we prioritize in our
lives? Be aware of what your priorities
are and that will give you insight into the value that you place on Jesus. Is He at the center of your life or is
something else?
Where do your affections
take you? Do you think about Him and His
great love toward you, seeking to please Him in all that you do or does He take
2nd,3rd or even 4th chair in the symphony of
your life?
When we live by our
convictions our lives will be dictated by those convictions.
Let your love for Him keep you in His
orbit.
There will be influences in
your life that try to keep you from Jerusalem.
Daniel provides a perfect
example of a life in full swing around his King. When a law was established to trip him up in
his religious observances, he did not get off track. Daniel maintained his orbit around the
Lord.
Daniel 6:10
When Daniel learned that the
order had been signed,
he went home. In
an upstairs room of his house
there were windows that faced toward
Jerusalem.
There, just as he had always
done,
he knelt down at the open windows
and prayed to God three times a day.
Daniel did not allow the
trajectory of the culture to pull him off course of his orbit around his
King. If anything, Daniel positioned his
heart more resolutely to keep his eyes on the Lord. He made his relationship with the Lord THE
priority in his life.
And as we see a few verses
later, his position did not keep him out of trouble but he was kept safe
through the danger.
At dawn the king got up and
hurried to the pit.
When he go there, he
called out anxiously,
“Daniel, servant of the living God!
Was the God you serve so loyally able
to save
you from the lions?”
Daniel answered,
“May
Your majesty live forever!
God sent his
angel to shut the mouths of the lions
so that they would not hurt me.
He did this because he knew that I was
innocent
and because I have not wronged you, Your Majesty.”
We can learn from Daniel how
to stay in orbit with God. Loving and
serving Him despite the consequences, making him the priority in our lives
keeps us facing the Jerusalem of His presence.
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