Day 17: Fixing Your Heart on God (Imitation of Christ. Bk. 3. Ch. 31-33)

• 
  How do you fix your heart on God and conform your life to Christ?
• Have you reached the point where no person or creature obstructs your way to God?

• What/Who are the rivals in your heart that keep you from loving God first?

• How do you fix your heart firmly on God, rather than on fleeting emotions or excess desires?

Ch. 31: Let go of every creature in order to find the Creator. [This (detachment) is a repeated theme throughout the book, for there are so many things that compete for our hearts (which are like leaky buckets). Friendships are good, but some relationships do not tolerate rivals--marriage and our relationship with God. We need a priority and hierarchy of goods with God at the top as #1, NOT any man or any of the good things in the world.] I must reach the point where no person or creature obstructs my way to God. It is necessary to pass beyond every creature and totally leave oneself behind to remain in the Creator of all, who bears no resemblance to creatures. People ask how much someone has done, but they do not so carefully consider how much virtue is behind the action. Whatever is not God is nothing, and should be reckoned as nothing. [I desire contemplation and the imitation of Christ, to be like Jesus, BUT how much effort am I willing to practice what is required for that?]

Ch. 32: Self-denial and abandoning all excess desire. [Eat only what is necessary for nourishment. Abstain from more than what you need. Don't take more than what I need (not just food, but also leisure, rest, relaxation, entertainment, diversion). How do I do this in our consumeristic culture?? Abandon excess desire to have more desire for God.] You cannot have fully freedom if you do not wholly deny yourself (Mt 16:24). Let everything go and you will find it all. (Forsake everything and you will find everything.) This short statement consists of the whole of the religious life. You still have much to leave behind, and unless you give it over entirely to (God), you will not find what you're looking for. 

 

Ch. 33: The heart's inconstancy and fixing one's intention on God as the goal. Do not believe your affections (present feelings). [Do not follow your heart, for your heart can be misled. Intentionally and deliberately fixing our attention on God gives an overwhelming sense of peace.]