What do I crave in this life?

My husband challenged me tonight in his talk at church. The passage spoke about our extended life past this world and what it offers.  It spoke about what we can look forward to as Christians.

And the passage explained that at the end of the days numbered for us on this Earth, "we will be with the Lord forever" (1 Thessalonians 4:17)

Craig's comment that made me really think was that he said "what we strive for and crave in this world is what we are hoping for in the next" and following this, his challenge was "are we craving to be with our Lord forever, now?" 

Because if we're striving for something different now, then our lives are out of line with what we should be craving for our future, too.

I think it was pretty obvious  to me that I don't crave to be with God above everything else. I think in my heart, he shares his position with other people who I care about. And that's not good enough. Even if all of my friends and family were to reject Jesus and live against him, and even if no one I had ever known was to be in heaven with me, I should be entirely stoked that I share it with Jesus. Those people shouldn't even cross my mind because I should value Christ's presence SO MUCH MORE than theirs. I'm not saying that their salvation and therefore their happiness shouldn't matter to me, but just that, in comparison to Jesus, I should count them a loss. (Philippians 3:8) "I consider EVERYTHING a loss compared to knowing the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord."

It made me wonder HOW to crave God. And HOW to crave his presence. 

"Why would I desire to be with these people at the same intensity as I desire to be with Christ?" 

After some preliminary thought, it's probably partly because these people are physically in my life everyday and they display in small amounts the qualities that I love in Christ. Everything that I love about these people are qualities that are inherent in Christ's nature and are far more full in him than they are in his created beings.

So, I think I have to be vigilant in prayer that as God renews my mind with his truth, that I will appreciate Jesus more. After all, God's is ALL good, ALL generous, ALL loving, ALL sacrificial. My husband, who is a very godly man, could not be described in this way, and neither could anyone else I know of, except the Lord. It is right that he should take supreme position in my mind above everyone else, even if I haven't met him yet in the flesh.

SO I will keep praying until this becomes a reality, and I'm sure that after God changes this divide in my heart, so much more will change in my life as a natural progression. I'm taking action against this divided heart, and by God's work within me, it will fall!