Desire God

There’s always a way present to choose. It is either the Lord’s way or the world’s way. The way we choose depends on the association we have with God. If our correlation is with the world and the ways of its people, our relationship with God is weak or naught. The more attached to the Lord we are the more desire we display toward Him. Such desire is caused, influenced and/or encouraged by the people around us. They may be our parents, friends, relatives, preachers or in some cases acquaintances. A desire for God can keep us from iniquity as well as pull us out of it. But it all begins with how and where our heart and mind are inclined. “He [Jehoram] walked in the way of the kings of Israel, just as the house of Ahab did (for Ahab’s daughter was his wife), and he did evil in the sight of the LORD” (2 Chron. 21:6).

Having a desire for God isn’t being in an inactive state. Having a desire for something means both the mind and heart are active and are at work to attain that which they are inclined to. So, when we desire God, we are bound to get Him. We know this, since at times we are torn between the choice of the flesh and the choice of the Spirit and only a desire for God eventually brings us on the side of the Spirit. Nevertheless, if a man’s desire is not for God, he will walk just as king Jehoram. He did not keep God in his heart and mind. Primarily, it is desire that paves way for our walk. Time and again we all face various desires. Some are meant to lead us away from God, but the reason we overcome them almost every time is because we incline our heart and mind toward God. One of the reasons a person distances himself from God or never comes to desire Him is his correlation with his surroundings. In Jehoram’s case it was his wife, the daughter of Ahab. We all know how wicked Ahab and his house was. There is no way his daughter would have fared any better. And when Jehoram married her, he was only going to continue his walk with no desire for God.

What made Jehoram marry her or do the things he did? It was simply a lack of desire for God. Living with no desire for God is absolutely dangerous. For one, it only leads to doing evil, since one refuses to acknowledge the difference between righteousness and unrighteousness. And second, it most certainly brings bad consequences. Our life, blessings, glory, honor, joy and peace all begin from having a desire for Him. No matter how small a desire we are willing to display He works on it to enlarge it to our well-being. After having heard the gospel, received from God, having His law and promises, it is sure we have a certain desire for Him. Zaccheus, the tax collector, was a great sinner, yet it was his desire for Jesus that brought salvation to his house. As God enlarges our desire for Him, we walk the road to perfection. “How blessed are those whose way is blameless, who walk in the law of the LORD” (Ps. 119:1).

We will never be perfect in this life, but with a desire for God walk the way that finally gives perfection. This means we uphold God’s law, and our thoughts and works are for Him and from Him. And even if we fall, since we uphold His law and our thoughts necessarily working against us, we are able to desire Him more than the sin in us. He will make our way blameless by helping us walk again in His law. This is blessed or happiness. You see, that which makes our relationship with God ticking is our desire for Him. And yet that desire should not be guided by our wisdom and knowledge. For it most certainly keeps us from desiring Him; then we only desire Him through our sinful ways. For He said, “Your wisdom and your knowledge, they have deluded you” (Isa. 47:10). So, if desire for Him is to be born and increase in us, it must be from the wisdom and knowledge we heard of Him. No wisdom and knowledge of this world can help us realize Him. He who considers them becomes deluded and denies God as well as desiring Him. For this reason, His law is of utmost importance and subsequently the blameless way.

So, if I do not lose desire for God by His law that is in me, sin will never perpetually prevail in me. The law that indwells my desire for Him overcomes sin by enlarging my desire so that I continue to live the blameless way He availed me. On the contrary, there is a different outcome to those who do not desire Him. “Thus says the LORD, ‘For three transgressions of Tyre and for four I will not revoke its punishment, because they delivered up an entire population to Edom and did not remember the covenant of brotherhood” (Amos 1:9). Transgressions increase when God is not desired, because law is forgotten. If believers forget God’s law, their desire for Him is quenched and this change leads them to add transgression to transgression. This makes God work against them. Nevertheless, the outcome of desiring God is the following. “Yet wisdom is vindicated by all her children” (Luke 7:35). We justify God’s wisdom. God who leads us to triumph by His ways will establish us and we vindicate wisdom. For we have begun desiring God not by the wisdom and the knowledge of the world but of God. To vindicate His wisdom means to see everything from His viewpoint. If as believers we are not vindicating it, it is because there is a transgression in us that is deluding us concerning His law. As long as we justify His wisdom concerning sin and righteousness, we are bound to continue the blameless way.

We can consider two acts for sustaining or having a desire for God.

  1. Do not shift. The apostle Paul made a pivotal point when he said “Was any man called when he was already circumcised? He is not to become uncircumcised. Has anyone been called in uncircumcision? He is not to be circumcised” (1 Cor. 7:18). The time we were called is when we desired God in our life. So, to now shift from that desire would pose a great threat to it. If one is called when circumcised, he or she should not convert into a gentile or live as if there is no law. If one is called while a gentile, he or she should not convert to a life of works and tradition. Then, they preserve their desire for God.
  2. Focus on putting on Christ. “Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross” (Phil. 2:8). Humbling ourselves like Him ensures we’ll never lose desire for God. There’s no better approach than obedience to God for a continual desire for Him. If desire for Him compels to obey Him, obeying Him allows Him to work with and in us so that it enlarges. Obviously, no one can ever exhibit the obedience of Jesus. But what Paul insists on is developing a deeper desire for God, and obeying is the way to it. Strive to obey in all things with all your desire for Him while simultaneously seeking His help and you will see your desire for Him grow and thereby, the coming of His blessings.
Posted in 2015, Archives, RECENT ARTICLES.