Wants or Wills?

Philippians 4:11-13 (NIV) ¹¹  I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. ¹²  I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. ¹³  I can do everything through him who gives me strength.

When I was a boy my parents always had a Sears catalog in the house. On many a cold winter day I would prop my feet up on the warm radiator in our kitchen, lift the heavy catalog into my lap, and longingly peruse the toy pages. This was long before Sears became an endangered species. Sears was probably the top, or one of the top retailers in the country at that time. That catalog was always at least two inches thick, and though it contained pages and pages of stuff I wasn’t interested in, there were lots devoted to kids’ stuff. And it was the toys and sports equipment that I came back to again and again. I remember my dad passing by me one day and casually asking a question, “Looking at the want book?” He probably never gave it another thought, but (obviously) that question stayed with me. I never thought of it being called that before.

The “want book”. That’s something that is pretty much obsolete today. Now it would be the “want sites” – websites with all the things money can buy and people might want. But it doesn’t matter what format it takes, the principle is the same: we want things. I want things. We are drawn to desire things. I think it’s pretty normal, and I don’t believe it is necessarily “wrong” to want something. The problem is whether or not that wanted thing is in any way in conflict with God’s purpose or plan for me (and for my money). For example, in my life right now I have a want for a particular house (with a specific street address) in South Carolina. I do not believe that it is wrong to want a house. I have never owned one because a parsonage of some sort has always been supplied to me in the churches where I have served. Over the years I have been saving and I hope to be able to buy a home someday. But it is not as simple as just wanting this house. For one thing, it is not for sale. For another thing, if it did go on the market, it might end up being with a price beyond what I could pay or should pay (or try to pay). It’s a modest home by MDI standards. But that’s not the point. While wanting something is not necessarily wrong, we all know it can become wrong if it is not tempered by, or surrendered to, the will of God. For example, if something bad had to happen to the current occupants of the house (who are unknown to me), I would NOT want the house. Or if purchasing the house was a step of bad judgment (risky or foolish in some way), I would not want the want to overtake the wisdom that would serve me better.

So what do I do? What do you or I do anytime we have a want of any kind? I pray. I surrender my want – whatever it may be - to God’s will. And as I walk with Christ I seek to do this with every single want that comes before my eyes or pops into my head. And the world surrounds me with a barrage of wants every day. Many of these are simply not attractive to me. But I am attracted to others. Of those, some are unrealistic, so I can fairly easily pass them by. But if I’m faced with something reachable, then I know that it has the power to take over my imagination and occupy my thought life for long stretches of time. How much easier and better it is just to pray, “Lord, I surrender this want to your will. May your will be done. And let me be happy in your will.” That is a prayer that God always responds to, because it puts Him first and trusts Him. Yet I don’t necessarily pray it easily. And I may need to convince myself that my heart is really with the Lord’s will before I will convince God. But I think He rejoices – and I know He is glorified – when my wants are surrendered to Him.

So I am learning to surrender my “wants” to His “wills” – to “unwant” what I want and to want His will. Because that is where the joy is: ultimate, deep, satisfying, restful joy. May I – and you – learn this more and more, until it becomes the natural bent of our hearts. Thank You, Lord.

1 Timothy 6:6-10 (NIV) ⁶  But godliness with contentment is great gain. ⁷  For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. ⁸  But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. ⁹  People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction. ¹⁰  For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.

Proverbs 15:16-17 (NIV) ¹⁶  Better a little with the fear of the LORD than great wealth with turmoil. ¹⁷  Better a meal of vegetables where there is love than a fattened calf with hatred.

Exodus 20:17 (NIV)  "You shall not covet your neighbor's house. You shall not covet your neighbor's wife, or his manservant or maidservant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor."

Matthew 6:31-34 (NIV) ³¹  So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' ³²  For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. ³³  But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. ³⁴  Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.  

PRAYER:  Father, thy kingdom come, thy will be done. May it be so in my life, and in the lives of my children and grandchildren and all whom they love. And may you get much glory from me in and through what you provide, and what you withhold. And may nothing I have or don’t have rob me of joy in you, my Savior, Redeemer, and friend. AMEN.”

Jesus Christ is Lord!    

Scott

A Duffer's Hope

Ephesians 2:8-9 (NIV) ⁸  For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God-- ⁹  not by works, so that no one can boast.

Once there was a very rich man who owned vast amounts of land that offered the choicest settings of beauty and wonder. In one of these he decided to build a golf course. Not just any golf course. This would be the greatest golf course in the world – unrivaled in its beauty and design. It was fit for kings. When he had completed all the work, he decided that having a golf course didn’t have much meaning if there weren’t people to play on it. But this was not a course designed for hackers and duffers. It was so beautiful, however, that people everywhere at every skill level wanted to play on this course. So he created a membership plan. Anyone could become a member of his golf club – as long as they met certain conditions. These conditions meant that while membership was open to all, ultimately only those who “qualified” could join. His basic condition was this: the perfect golf course should only be available to the perfect golfer. And… his idea of perfection was not just being able to shoot some standard known as “par”. The perfect score was not 72. It was 18. Membership in his club was available to anyone who could score a hole-in-one on all 18 holes of his course. The people who could do that would be welcomed in to lifetime memberships with no charges for anything. All the golf, the balls, the best clubs,… all the food (the best food anyone had ever eaten)… everything was free to anyone who could meet this condition. Each person was allowed one round of golf on his course. They were allowed to keep playing as long as they were making holes-in-one.

Though it sounds foolish, many people actually tried. Very hard they tried. They practiced and practiced before their time came to face the rich man and his course. When they practiced they usually compared their scores with each other. And compared to each other, some of them did really well. Once in a while someone would shoot in the low 60’s and others would oooh and aahhh. Others would shoot in the 80’s and 90’s (and beyond) and people would laugh. Some were just awful. Many didn’t care, and some didn’t even bother playing, saying they were not interested in golf and golf courses. On the rich man’s course, most people were done after only one stroke. Occasionally someone might make it to the second hole, and in extremely rare cases to the third. But everyone fell short. Once in a while someone offered the rich man money if he would let them join. But, being the richest man in the world, he did not need any amount of money. He actually thought that such offers cheapened the glory of his course. It ended up that no one could become a member of his glorious golf club.

The rich man was disappointed in people. And he didn’t really want to be alone. So he came up with a plan. He could not let just anyone join because he could not and would not lower his standards. But if one person could ever get a perfect score, he could trade it with anyone and they could “get in”. But who could get a perfect score? Years and years went by, and no one could do it. Then one day, the man’s son came to take on the course. If he didn’t meet the man’s conditions, he wouldn’t be able to be with his father anymore. So it was a very serious decision. How would he be able to accomplish what no one else had ever been able to do? Where all others had fallen short, how could he expect to be perfect? Yet he was. One hole after another – no matter the distance or the hazards – he scored holes-in-one. His score added up, and in the end his card showed “18” after 18 holes. Unbelievable! Even more unbelievable, however, was that he began to offer to trade his score card with anyone else. They could take his score card with his signature as their own, present it to the rich man, and enter into membership. It did not matter how bad or good (in their own eyes) their own score card was. He would trade his for theirs.

Some people thought it was too good to be true, so they ignored the son’s offer. Others thought it was a trick or that the son hadn’t really gotten a perfect score. There were those who thought the rich man didn’t really mean what he said about allowing them in with a scorecard signed by his son. And then there were many who insisted on believing that somehow, some way, they had to score an 18 for themselves. But as hard as they worked at it, they never came close. Yet they tried to tell themselves that when they met the rich man they could present their best score and he would let them in. They learned the hard way that he would not. Only a scorecard signed by his son would be accepted. Because only perfection was accepted. And those who came to his son and got his scorecard… and gave up their own… and depended only on his perfect score… were accepted by the rich man and allowed into membership and all of its benefits. They were very happy.

Romans 3:23 (NIV)  for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

Romans 5:8 (NIV)  But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Isaiah 64:6 (NIV)  All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us away.

1 Peter 3:18 (NIV)  For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive by the Spirit,

PRAYER:  Thank you, Father, for the great exchange: Christ’s righteousness for my unrighteousness… His perfection for my sin… His death for my life… His humanity for my eternity… His grace for my useless works. AMEN.”

Jesus Christ is Lord!    

Scott