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Desires and Double-Mindedness

New Testament passage (for Sat., Nov. 17, 2012): James 1:1-18

DESIRE is a basic human characteristic. We have needs, we long for better days, we lust, we feel lack - we seek to be in a better place - a better life. It has been said that our hearts are literally "a factory of desires."  The Bible has much to say about how we should respond to these emotions of desire.

One the one hand, the Bible says that we can live a fulfilled and satisfied life. Psalm 103:4-5 says:   who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion, who satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.  (NIV). Conversely, the condition of many is very different. They are like the leech spoken of in Proverbs 30:15.  The leech has two daughters: Give and Give.  Three things are never satisfied;  four never  say, “Enough”.  This is the picture of a life lived in unfulfilled desire.  Sadly, many believers are in this boat. Here's a lesson:  Desire can lead to FULFILLMENT or it can lead to DESTRUCTION. The difference is how you handle these huge, pulsing desires that run through your being. We can direct our desires toward the only One who can fulfill them, or we can settle for less.  C.S. Lewis said:

Our problem is DOUBLE-MINDEDNESS. We want what is good, but we settle for that which is convenient. So, here are three steps toward a life of fulfillment:

1. Acknowledge your chronic dissatisfaction as what it is.  It is a symptom of a deeper vacuum in your heart.

2. Repent of double-mindedness that allowed desire to lead you to compromise, compromise to sin, and sin to death.

3. Allow Jesus to make you whole. He fills you with good things. He satisfies the soul. He heals our brokenness.

This is the promise of life lived in Jesus. He will give you living water that will quench your thirst and bring rest to your weary soul!

Posted by Bob Clanton at 4:11 AM Bob Clanton
