Wednesday, March 15, 2006

Deep Desires and Sweet Satisfaction

(What the average man desires) " is this desirability of an active and imaginative life, picturesque and full of a poetical curiosity, a life such as western man at any rate always seems to have desired. If a man says that extinction is better than existence or blank existence better than variety and adventure, then he is not one of the ordinary people to whom I am talking. If a man prefers nothing I can give him nothing. But nearly all people I have ever met in this western society in which I live would agree to the general proposition that we need this life of practical romance; the combination of something that is strange with something that is secure. We need so to view the world as to combine an idea of wonder and an idea of welcome. We need to be happy in this wonderland without once being merely comfortable. It is THIS achievement of my creed that I shall chiefly pursue in these pages". G.K. Chesterton "The Everlasting Man"

I wanted to take some time this morning and praise my Savior. What a life He has given me! I want people in the blog universe to know that I have been and am being transformed in a way that I did not believe was possible. You see, spiritual growth is slow and imperceptible. It is measured in decades and not years.

I am going to sound like a braggart- but I want to praise my Lord!

I used to be a man who really desired the world. Not only did I desire it, I tasted it whenever I could. I knew of Christ, but I did not love that knowledge. Christ seemed to stand in the way of all my pursuits.

I was lazy and apathetic- very selfish. When I first got married and started having kids, it was nice-but not my passion. My passion was me. I loved leisure.

It was hard to hurry home after work- home required sacrifice.

The funny thing is that I still have that same basic default mode...but something wonderful has happened.

First, I truly believed the gospel- the awesome good news. I'M CLEAN. I am forgiven. GOD LOVES ME! In spite of all my wickedness- my evil thoughts, my cruel words, my inaction- everything is wiped clean.

Second, even though I didn't feel like it, I started taking baby steps in obedience to the Bible. Some of it was just under social pressure of the church crowd. But guess what? I started to really enjoy it. My wife and children grew in my heart even deeper- my peace was more consistent- my love grew warmer- God was changing me.

Third, trials hardened me. The hard times are a tough school master and I did not enjoy it. But those hard times are sweet times to me now. God showed up.

So my life right now?

It is hard. A mixed bag of good days and hard days. I win and lose. Sin is still in me.

I love my Lord - I love my wife - I love my kids - I love my job - I love good books and fun activities-I love great conversations and beautiful people- I love my country, my church, my pastor etc.

And I just wanted to say thanks Jesus. The "desirability of an active and imaginative life, picturesque and full of a poetical curiosity" has come true in You!

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Jay, your blogs are really good. But you are posting them in the wrong place. I want more people to read them. You ought to consider using myspace to post them. More people will be directed to them. Anway, I enjoy reading your stuff man. You are an insightful guy. I know we would have had tons of fun working together. Maybe you can have me come speak to your football team next fall during camp! Love you man,
Joe