Desire

Just the other day, I started reading one of the first books published by one of my favorite authors, John Eldridge. It's called "Desire," and it's been exactly what I expected - amazing. I'm only on chapter 3, but the insight has been jump-starting me already in ways that I've been looking for. God's good at that, trust me - which kinda leads me into my point.

Eldrige pointed out something about desire that I've never really caught in this way before, but totally supplements the view of God as the Good Father that I've been seeking and embracing the past couple years. He pointed out (in a much more profound and concise way, to be sure) that Jesus' encounters with people all through His time physically on earth hold one strange thing in common: Jesus asks people what they want all the time. The lame man by the pool at Bethesda, the blind men by the side of the road, the woman at the well, they all have one thing in common: Jesus addresses their obvious need with a direct question or tone that seems to have an obvious answer. It's not that Jesus, God in the flesh, doesn't know what's up. He wasn't ignorant to their needs..."Oh, you're blind and you want sight?! Oh my! Shocker!" Please. What Jesus was getting at by asking such obvious questions was the underlying desire, dormant in so many of us. Yes we're hurt. Yes we're in need of a miracle, in need of a personal touch from God in our lives, and God knows that...but are we aware of the desire that's feeding that need?

What Jesus was doing by asking "what do you want" is quite simple - He was trying to awaken their desires. They already knew their brokenness...more than familiar with that, thank you very much...but Jesus knew that they were unaware of true life, true healing, true hope. He was awakening them to the very real truth that their desires were rooted not only in the need to be healed (physically, spiritually, emotionally), but in the need for a healed view of God and the intimacy that ensues. This is the awakening, the fundamental joy of life, the obvious yet illusive truth that haunts humanity: He is life, He is healing, He is hope. "Oh that's nice, Shane, sounds great. A silly ideal, maybe, one I've heard in some form or another most of my life. Thanks for the sermon, here's a nickel for your trouble." Sure, brush it off, no biggie. But if you'd rather chew on it a while, let's dig into this concept for a minute.

Here it is, I'm going to make a daring proposition, one that may ruffle some feathers (not that I mind, a good feather-ruffling is healthy when it comes to the truth). I propose that humanity as a whole, every human being who ever existed, has one profound thing in common on the heart level, at our very core: we all yearn for completion, for purpose, for life to its fullest and most dazzling extent...we all desire wholeness. Here's where my proposition gets ruffly: whether you've realized this or not, whether you agree or not, God sent Himself in flesh (Jesus) to give us that wholeness. Everybody knows John 3:16, right? "For God so loved the world that he gave his only son, that whoever believes in him will not perish but have eternal life." Sunday school stuff, you know. But not many people know the next verse, John 3:17 - and in it lies the key to unlock many a heart with the freedom only God has for us. "For God did not send his son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through him might be saved." Many people don't realize the freedom in this verse...Jesus came to give life, to gift humanity with the wholeness its always wanted but never knew it needed, or at least never knew how to ask for it.

Jesus is always bringing it up, bringing up the obvious in our lives. But no matter how much we may hear how much we need Jesus, it seems to resonate in a different way when Jesus poses the proposition. You see, He doesn't wave picket signs of hateful, offensive words to get His point across. He doesn't thump you to death with a Bible. He doesn't make you feel like garbage to pressure you into His salvation. He's none of the above. And if you think He is, you better go back to the drawing board. He is life to the fullest, not condemnation. He didn't come to condemn the world, but to open its eyes...like a blind man seeing for the first time. And so He asks, even now, to you right where you're at - "what do you want?"

Blaise Pascal, a famous author from the 1600's, once wrote, "There is a God-shaped vacuum in the heart of every person, and it can never be filled by any created thing. It can only be filled by God, made known through Jesus Christ." There is a distinct hunger inside each of us, but so many have no idea what it truly is. Honestly, it's God, and the fullness of life He's made available through Jesus. All we need to do is believe that Jesus truly is that solution for the world, that He paid the ultimate price through His sacrifice and that He truly is God's Redeemer for this world. That's pretty much the gist of it. Can you take that step? Are you tired of wondering how to attain life? Go to Jesus...He already attained it for you, and it's waiting in His arms.