Desires for comfort, love, intimacy, and belonging are all a part of our humanity. Our hearts are often driven by desires for relationships, prestigious positions, economic comfort and, in general; happiness. That, in and of itself is not bad; however, they can become a source of idolatry when those desires take precedence over our desire for God.
Colossians 3:1-3
If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God.
HID IN CHRIST
Because of the redemptive work of Christ on the cross followed by His resurrection, all who accept Jesus Christ as their Savior are then hid in Christ. The price for our sins (past, present and future) was paid at the cross. Our penalty and shame were buried with Christ; so, that we might rise again to new life. Spiritually we are made alive to God. Because we are cloaked in the righteousness of Jesus Christ; our life is hidden with Christ in God. No longer does God look down from heaven to judge us by our sin. That, however; is not a license to willfully sin. Indeed, if I fully understand the depth of Grace and love that God has bestowed on me; then, my heart is compelled to seek Him above all else.
EASIER SAID THAN DONE
Certainly, I recognize that our continuing battles against our fleshly desires are not easy. Even now, as I say that; I realize this past week I have gotten out of schedule following my surgery. Despite my desire to post as previously, my desire for rest and comfort took over. Which in and of itself is certainly not a problem; unless, I let my desire for comfort so invade that I do not return to doing what God has commanded me to do. Quite the opposite, if my routine of writing and posting becomes the obsession instead of God being the object of my love; even my writing can become a form of idolatry for me. Anything we do in life, we need to reassess from time to time our own hearts. Are we doing it for self-exaltation or to exalt Jesus Christ?
We can have started with the right heart out of love for God and somewhere along the way, lose sight of Him. Because of that risk, it is good sometimes to take a moment to look deep within our own hearts. Paul, the apostle even tells us of this conflict within his own life.
Romans 7:22-25
For I delight in the law of God after the inward man: But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death? I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.
DOES THAT MEAN DON’T BATTLE?
Paul was not saying, “Give up” the battle. In fact, Paul has just outlined in Colossians 3 the truth that we are hid in Christ. Because of that, we are to consider our flesh dead to sin’s effects. He tells us to mortify our members.
COLOSSIANS 3:5
Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry
Mortify has three distinct meanings we must remember here concerning our fleshly desires.
- Subdue
- Feel deep shame regarding
- Put to death
All the fleshly desires mentioned here by Paul, he declares to be a form of idolatry. Because the desire to satisfy our flesh becomes paramount to our desire to honor God, the desire becomes an idol. When we seek to satisfy any earthly desire more than we seek Christ; we sin willfully.
HOW CAN I EVALUATE MY HEART’S DESIRE?
- First and foremost, we must learn to name our enemy! All too often we change the wording. Instead of saying I have sexual desires, I might say I have sexual needs. That changes the power of that desire in my life. If I indeed call them needs and for whatever reason, God does not provide me with a husband to meet those needs; then, I rationalize my sin. I may even become obsessed with finding and fulfilling that need; forgetting, all of God’s warnings.
If instead, I recognize them as desires; I rest assured that God will fulfill my desires as I delight myself in Him. (Psalm 37:4) When you find ecstasy and joy by worshipping God, the physical desire for sexual intimacy diminishes. If God does bless you with a husband or wife; certainly, enjoy those pleasures. Even then, I do think you will find that sexual pleasure only lasts for a moment compared to the fulfilling pleasure of spending time alone with God.
Once named, then what?
- Focus on Jesus Christ as Your Greatest Treasure! Take a moment to think about the depth of love, Grace, security, hope and joy that is yours in Christ Jesus. Then, because of that; seek to know Him better. Read his word. Spend time alone with Him in prayer. Join a church where you are about to hear about Him and talk about Him. This should not be only when things are going bad. This should be in both good and bad times. Remember the old testament? The people believed and followed God. God blessed them. They forgot about God and started worshipping idols. God warned them. They failed to repent. They lost everything. Then they cried out to God. God heard them, forgave them and it all started again. Does that sound like your life?
FINALLY
- Don’t take your eyes off the prize! Your entire lifetime on this earth is but a blink of an eye compared to eternity. All the fleshly desires of this world are but counterfeit joys compared to the joy and glory of an eternity in His presence. Would you want to trade Real Eternal Joy for brief counterfeit joys here on earth?
CONCLUDING TWEETS
[tweetthis]In every battle of life, we must be able to name the enemy.[/tweetthis]
[bctt tweet=”Any Desire that takes Precedence over our desire for God’s Favor, becomes an idol.” username=”effiedarlene”]
[tweetthis]Our lifetime here on earth is a split second compared to eternity.[/tweetthis]
[bctt tweet=”When we seek to satisfy any earthly desire more than we seek Christ; we sin willfully. ” username=”effiedarlene”]
[bctt tweet=”Is the core heart of your desire to fulfill God’s pleasure or your own pleasure?” username=”effiedarlene”]
Photo courtesy of https://unsplash.com/@xopherwallace
©Effie Darlene Barba, 2017
Disclosure of Material Connection: I have not received any compensation for writing this post. I have no material connection to the brands, products, or services that I have mentioned. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.
