For a day in Your courts is better than a thousand. I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God Than dwell in the tents of wickedness.
Psalm 84:10

Psalm 84 is the cry of a man whose heart longs for more fellowship and intimacy with God. His heart longs, actually, for more of God Himself. In verse 10 he declares, in essence, that it is better to be in a lowly position in the presence of the Lord than to be in the place of comfort in this world. Ideally, all of God’s people would readily say, “Amen!”—though sadly we know that is not true!

But how resolute is that “Amen” even from we who really do want more intimacy with God? What if we really had to choose the lower seat versus the place of affluence and comfort? It is one thing to say, “We want God no matter what.” It is another to choose to pursue the Lord if it really meant suffering loss to our financial portfolio, our comfort level, or our health.

May we pursue the Lord—really pursue the Lord—not worrying about our affluence or comfort. And if it should please the Lord to remove some or all of the perks we are so accustomed to, may we count them all loss “for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:8).