Not going to lie, I like shopping. A lot. There’s a real charge in the thrill of the hunt for that illusive bargain. Okay, I’ll admit I laughed at myself when I said there’s a real “charge” there. Shopping humor. The kind of humor my husband might not find as entertaining as I do. Because he pays the bills, yes, but also because he despises shopping.
De-SPIZE-es it. He once told me he’s pretty convinced that every time he goes shopping, it actually takes years off his life. He said he would rather have poison ivy.
Ironically, he can pick that up in his thrill of choice, trail biking. Mind you, I’m glad he loves to be outdoors and active. I really am. But I’m also glad he doesn’t expect me to go with him. I merely think about a trail and a bike and I’m pretty sure I li’l bit break out in hives. It’s not just the threat of falling into some lonely ditch. It’s also the thought of trying to awaken my long, long, long-dormant biking muscles that causes my left eye to twitch. And the rest of me to itch. Snakes, bugs, dirt, sweat—I’ve tried to be okay with those things. But alas: twitch, twitch, itch, itch.
We may all have different favorites when it comes to thrills, but there’s a soul thrill that is unquestionably, universally meant for each one of us. There is One who thrills from heart to soul and back. Jesus.
The hymn nails it. “All that thrills my soul is Jesus, He is more than life to me.”
I have to ask myself often if my Savior really is “more than life to me.” More important than anything. Whether it’s the thrill of a bargain, the thrill of a nature trail, or anything in between, if there is anything on the planet that threatens to usurp the attention my Jesus deserves, it’s time to do a thrill-check. A heart-check. Our Creator, the One who holds everything together, the absolute reason for it all, is all of life. No, He’s more than that. He’s more than life.
I don’t like to confess how often I allow my focus to land on lesser things. Paul gives the poignant reminder that, whether I recognize it or not, everything is about Him, has always been about Him, and is forever held together by Him. “All things have been created through him and for him. He is before all things, and by him all things hold together” (Colossians 1:16b-17 CSB). Life. More than life.
I’m asking the Lord to make my life (in the shops, on the trails—wherever) a testimony of a thrilled soul. I want the people I meet to know Jesus is all every restless soul needs. He meets every true need and I want to sing about it. Verse four of “All that Thrills My Soul” fits perfectly.
“Ev’ry need His hand supplying,
Ev’ry good in Him I see,
On His strength divine relying,
He is all in all to me.
All that thrills my soul is Jesus,
He is more than life to me;
And the fairest of ten thousand
In my blessed Lord I see.”
May He be our greatest and only true thrill. Ignoring all itches, twitches, or detours in ditches.