Good Desire

For Tuesday, October 25, 2005
Proverbs 13:19

A desire fulfilled is sweet to the soul,
but to turn away from evil is an abomination to fools.

The key to this proverb is knowing should be our desire. John Piper's book, Desiring God, has seem misguided, even heretical, to some because of his strong emphasis on fulfilling desire. His argument rests, however, on having right desires, namely the enjoyment of God. We are often left feeling unfullfilled, not because others have prevented us from obtaining our desires, but because we are, as C. S. Lewis notes, content with too little. We think temporal objects will fulfill us - a vacation, good food, sex, entertainment. But they cannot replace love, holy fear, peace with God, redemption. They cannot replace the invisible eternal, and they are only as satisfying as they give a taste of the eternal rest, eternal banquet, eternal joy that will someday be ours.

It is good to desire, and the more that desire is squared with eternal pleasure in Christ, the more often it will be fulfilled even as it waits for its complete fulfillment. This was brought home to me in attending the funeral of a Christian man and taking pleasure in the words spoken of his faith, in the Scripture read, and the hymns sung. Why is a Christian funeral actually a joyful experience and the secular funeral empty even when the life of the decease is being "celebrated"? Because desire is fulfilled not in the praise of man but in the praise of God. It may be pleasurable to celebrate a person; but it is all the more pleasurable when that celebration leads to glorifying God through Jesus Christ.

As to the latter statement of the proverb. It reminds me of Jim Elliot's famous statement: "He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose."

Lord, let me find my pleasure in you this day. You have created this day that I might glorify and enjoy you. May I glorify you by enjoying you today. Amen.