January 6, 2013
What is it that you seek for, desire? Any common man could have a list of things he desires, be it material, tangible or intangible But as a Christian, what should we desire? My favorite verse growing up was always "Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart. (Psalm 37:4). Of course God is not our personal genie who will give us whatever whenever we want, but in accordance with His will. But sometimes our desires can be misled, out of place, or indeed wrong. I have found this true to myself recently with my desires. It's not that I find my desires sinful, but out of order. What I desire most should not be what I desire most.
You look at Solomon, God asked him what seemed to be a very open ended question, "what shall I give you?" It appears as if Solomon could have asked for anything from God, anything his heart desired. If God were to ask me the same question I probably would have responded with a wife, a better job, healing in certain areas, or what have you. But Solomon asked for the most precious thing in the world, wisdom! This is exactly what we should be seeking, God's wisdom, because without it all other desires are useless. What good is a wife if you have not wisdom to lead? What good is a job if you have not wisdom to perform? And God still freely gives this same wisdom to us, "If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given to him." (James 1:5). This verse, with wisdom set as our number one desire, is basically another way of reading Psalm 37:4.
We are to seek first God and His kingdom, and everything else will be added (Matthew 6:33). Don't get me wrong, it's not that desires apart from wisdom are inherently wrong in it of themselves, but we must have God's wisdom, God Himself as our number one desire. I know my desires need to be set anew, how about yours?