Article of faith: The wandering of desire, By Femi Aribisala

God must be our desire.   

Solomon says:

“Better is the sight of the eyes than the wandering of desire. This, also, is vanity and grasping for the wind.” (Ecclesiastes 6:9)

A more modern translation of the same verse says:

“Enjoy what you have rather than desiring what you don’t have. Just dreaming about nice things is meaningless—like chasing the wind.”

Vain Desires

What we desire is of the utmost importance. It often defines our lives. It takes over our lives.

The Bible says Jesus is our life. (Colossians 3:4). But for many of us, our desires are our lives.

I know that in the world, you are told you need to be ambitious. The ambitious man is presumed to be industrious and purposeful. However, our ambitions are used to gain the world. At the same time, they defeat the rule of the kingdom of God in our lives. They provoke us into taking ungodly actions. 

That is where we get the devilish notion that the end justifies the ungodly means.

Our desires are powerful motivators. Many spend a lifetime chasing their desires. They want to be rich. They want to be powerful. They want to be known. They want to be recognised. They want to be president of the republic.

They become so determined to fulfil their purposes that they do anything to achieve them. They kill, maim, cheat, and make a covenant with death. They do whatever it takes.

Our desires lead us astray. They make us discontented with the purpose that God has purposed for us. We murmur, we complain. We berate our lot in life.

Worry Worshippers

But Paul says: “Godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. And having food and clothing, with these we shall be content. But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and harmful lusts which drown men in destruction and perdition.” (1 Timothy 6:6-9).

Our desires turn us from God worshippers to worry worshippers, because we worship whatever preoccupies our minds.

But Jesus says:

“Do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.” (Matthew 6:31-32).

When a man sought Jesus’ intervention to ensure that his brother did not monopolise their inheritance from their father, Jesus accused him of covetousness:

“Take heed and beware of covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of the things he possesses.” (Luke 12:15).

Jesus came to give us a heavenly inheritance. But this man was still preoccupied with an earthly one.

Enemies of God

Our desires are the very things that made us enemies of God.

“We all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath.” (Ephesians 2:3).

Jesus says:

“The desires for other things entering in choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful.” (Mark 4:19).

James gives us a somewhat medical diagnosis:

“Each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death. Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren.” (James 1:14-16).

He asks:

“What is causing the quarrels and fights among you? Don’t they come from the evil desires at war within you?”

“You adulterers! Don’t you realize that friendship with the world makes you an enemy of God? I say it again: If you want to be a friend of the world, you make yourself an enemy of God.” (James 4:1-6).

Therefore, John warns believers: 

“Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.” (1 John 2:15).

“The world offers only a craving for physical pleasure, a craving for everything we see, and pride in our achievements and possessions. These are not from the Father, but are from this world.” (1 John 2:15-16).

Heroes of Faith

The heroes of our faith did not love the world. For this reason, they pleased God.

“Truly, if they had called to mind that country from which they had come out, they would have had opportunity to return. But now they desire a better, that is, a heavenly country. Therefore, God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared a city for them.” (Hebrews 11:15-16).

Evil Desires

God gave the law to reveal to us our evil desires:

“I would not have known covetousness unless the law had said, ‘You shall not covet.’ But sin, taking opportunity by the commandment, produced in me all manner of evil desire. For apart from the law, sin was dead.” (Romans 7:7-8). 

Human desires displace God in our hearts. We desire, instead, vainglories. We desire the vanities of this world. But those things are traps. They captivate and capture our hearts.

Desire of All Nations

God must be our desire. He is referred to in the scriptures as “The Desire of All Nations.” (Haggai 2:7).

Accordingly, Jesus warns us:

“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” (Matthew 6:19-21). 

The psalmist declares:

“Whom have I in heaven but You? And there is none upon earth that I desire besides You.”(Psalm 73:25). 

Eternal life is the knowledge of God. But God says:

“My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I also will reject you from being priest for Me.” (Hosea 4:6).

Instead of seeking to know God, the rich are contemptuous of Him:

“They spend their days in wealth, and in a moment go down to the grave. Yet they say to God, ‘Depart from us, for we do not desire the knowledge of Your ways. Who is the Almighty, that we should serve Him? And what profit do we have if we pray to Him?” (Job 21:13-15).

Isaiah had warned that Jesus, the express image of God, would not be to our liking:

“He has no form or comeliness; and when we see Him, there is no beauty that we should desire Him.” (Isaiah 53:2). NKJV

When He came, He was the stone that the builders rejected that became the chief cornerstone, a stone of stumbling and a Rock of Offense. (1 Peter 2:7-8).

[email protected]; www.femiaribisala.com