One Year Bible
New Testament passage (for Sat., Nov. 17, 2012): James 1:1-18
6 But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. 7 For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; 8 he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways. James 1:6-8 (NKJV)
14 But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. 15 Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death. James 1:14-15 (NKJV)
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:
“It would seem that Our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.” In The Weight of Glory, and Other Addresses