CHEESEBURGER IN PARADISE: Desires that Kill!

CHEESEBURGER IN PARADISE....
well amost...Williamsburg

DESIRES CAN FOOL US

Yesterday, Joe Little, Anthony Forrest and myself headed out to the College William & Mary to shoot video footage for the soon to be released Verge Life promo DVD.

Being the healthy eaters we are, we (I) decided to have lunch at Wendy’s. Like any good 42 Old with high cholesterol, I order the bonesless, skinless, tasteless, chicken sandwich...and I didn’t even super-size it! (Boy was I tempted)

Anthony on the otherhand, ordered TWO double cheeseburgers and a large fry. While we were eating I thought, “boy this kid can put it away.” After his first burger he said, “Food sucks. It’s a waste of money. You eat it and then you put it in the toilet.” Profound. He added, “Does anybody want this other chesseburger.”

My mom would have said his eyes were too big for his stomach.

Today, I read Proverbs 7 (because it’s December 7th right?) The whole chapter deals with a father telling his son not to follow the desire for an adulterous woman.

I was immediately reminded of the passage in James where he writes:

James 1:14-15
but each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed. [15] Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.

James is telling us that DESIRES can fool us. DESIRES can lead us down a path of death and destruction. In the words of Donald Miller from his book Blue Like Jazz:

SOMETIMES THE THINGS WE WANT MOST IN LIFE

ARE THE THINGS THAT WILL KILL US.

(checkout the cartoon at http://www.donaldmillerwords.com/images/DonRabbit.pdf)

DESIRE IN ITSELF CAN BE A GOOD THING

As a matter of fact, without DESIRE nothing would get accomplished. I mean you have to desire food just to stay alive. I have a great DESIRE for oxygen. Life just goes better with air. I DESIRE my wife. You’d better not. People DESIRE to start a business or go to school. Apparently, DESIRE can be a good thing or a bad thing depending on it’s origin.

The Apostle Peter used the term “corrupt desire of the sinful nature” (2 Peter 2:10)

Galatians 5:19-21 describes what Peter meant:

The acts of the sinful nature are obvious:...let’s go to the MESSAGE version:

Galatians 5:19-21
It is obvious what kind of life develops out of trying to get your own way all the time: repetitive, loveless, cheap sex; a stinking accumulation of mental and emotional garbage; frenzied and joyless grabs for happiness; [20] trinket gods; magic-show religion; paranoid loneliness; cutthroat competition; all-consuming-yet-never-satisfied wants; a brutal temper; an impotence to love or be loved; divided homes and divided lives; small-minded and lopsided pursuits; [21] the vicious habit of depersonalizing everyone into a rival; uncontrolled and uncontrollable addictions; ugly parodies of community. I could go on.
This isn't the first time I have warned you, you know. If you use your freedom this way, you will not inherit God's kingdom.


So, when DESIRE seems to originate from the sinful nature-watch out! It’s a trap!!!

The good news is that God promises to give us RIGHT desires:

Psalm 37:4
Delight yourself in the Lord
and he will give you the desires of your heart.

As we spend time with God and his people we are apt to DESIRE the right things. When I began to overcome my fears and insecurities and INVOLVED myself with church life- I began to lose my taste for sinful destructive desires while gaining a bent toward godly DESIRES.

What is a godly DESIRE? Well, ask yourself....

Is the thing I WANT apt to have originated in the SIN NATURE (see above)- then it's apt to lead to some sort of DEATH- death to a relationship, death to purity, death to emotions, career, education, etc.....and of course...death...as in dying.

Or did this DESIRE develop while pursuing God? Then it's apt to bring new life to your relationships, career, dreams, etc., etc., etc..

My advise....ask God before ordering the extra cheeseburger.....whatever that cheeseburger may represent.

Life....Get It. Live It. Give It.
PM

P.S.
Anthony did finally eat the other cheeseburger...for supper!