Knowing that Christ is your desire
How do you know if Christ is your desire? At the beginning of this series we looked at how and why God is so interested in the heart. Our heart is responsible for deciding what is most important to us. Whatever is most important to us becomes the object of our worship. We mould our lives around it, we talk about it, write about it, listen to it, play with it, learn from it and do everything we can to see to manifest it in our lives.
Whatever we worship satisfies us. That’s why we worship it! We would never worship something or someone who does not satisfy us.
To make Christ your desire simply means to find your satisfaction in Him. In other words, in your relationship with Jesus you are completely happy and you find joy in Him. This means that YOU GET everything you need to be satisfied in life, from God.
It does not mean giving everything up and trying to live as best as you possibly can. Doing everything you can to serve in the church, pray every morning and read your bible. It means that YOU GET everything you desire that makes you satisfied from God. Does this sound selfish? YES! We has human beings are driven by our desires. What we want and makes us satisfied!!
Seeking to be satisfied in God means to pursue God. To make His will our will, to let Him and His will become the very thing that brings us joy. Our joy needs to come from Him. Our ‘wants’ need to be directed by Him.
To have joy as a Christian is not optional. Without joy we cannot worship because we worship what brings us joy. No one worships what does not bring us joy!
The chorus ‘As the deer pants for the water oh my soul longs for you…’ has profound wisdom. What does the deer do for the stream? Nothing!! It does not serve it, it does not help it, make it better. It simply drinks from it and it is satisfied and renewed. (Excerpt from John Piper sermon)
Come to God to gain satisfaction like the deer pants for the water. Drink enthusiastically so that your can satisfy your thirst. God wants to satisfy your hunger and thirst he says so in the beatitudes:
Matthew 5: 6
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.
I agree with this part of the blog
“Seeking to be satisfied in God means to pursue God. To make His will our will, to let Him and His will become the very thing that brings us joy. Our joy needs to come from Him. Our ‘wants’ need to be directed by Him.”
However, the rest of it sounds as though God has not instructed us to do anything. This doesn’t discuss at all the call to obedience that comes as an act of submission to the will of God. Yes, we do find our satisfaction in God but we are not called to selfishness. While we are a selfish natured people, God calls us to be selfless.
For example, when was Jesus selfish? When did Jesus make it about Him? He didn’t. He always pointed back to the Father in heaven. If even Jesus was submissive and obedient to the Father, what makes us think that we shouldn’t be? We cannot simply stall in action when we feel satisfied by God.
I don’t mean to come in and denounce anything, I simply don’t understand how you could leave out the essential part of obedience that God is calling us to. God IS calling us to lay down our lives, take up our crosses, and follow Him. Yes, this is more than selling everything and living a good life but it is also so much more than being found joyous in God.
Matthew 10:32-42
Luke 22:42
James 2:14-17
Again, I do not wish to contradict you but rather perhaps come to a more holistic discussion of the call and cost of follow Jesus.
Hi Kacy
Thanks for commenting on this post. It is great to know that people are intelligently and carefully reading these posts.
I apologose if this post was written in such a way as to discount the importance of service towards God. That was not my intention.
My intention rather was to bring light on our reason for worship. If our desire is to be satisfied in Him then I believe that our service and devotion to God would flow naturally from there.
Service to God is of paramount importance in our walk with God, but it is not the central focus. Our central focus is to LOVE God.
Loving God is outlined in 1 John 5:3
” For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome.”
Our love for God is shown in our obedience to Him and what He has called us to. More importantly though, the end of this verse shows us the importance of a satisfied heart in God.
In our obedience “His commandments are not burdensome.” Our understanding of God, our satisfaction in Him, our desire to serve Him and to love Him leads us to an’unburdened service’ to Him.
Yes, Jesus was selflessly obedient to God’s will and therefore we should follow God selflessly. My aim was not to destroy this truth, but rather to bring light on the root of our obedience.
Our obedience should be rooted in our love and satisfaction in God. Otherwise we are no better than the Pharasee who was unwavered in his service and devotion to God. Yet Jesus rebuked them!