Thoughts After the Sermon, "What Do You Really Want?" Exodus 20:17

Thoughts After the Sermon, “What Do You Really Want?” Exodus 20:17

by Vermon Pierre, Lead Pastor

Some reminders and further thoughts from last Sunday’s sermon, “What Do You Really Want?” (Exodus 20:17):

1. Desires are normal. Desires are good. The problem comes when normal good desires become obsessive desperate craving desires. These are the kind of desires that enslave us. They lead us to spending lots of time desperately trying to attain things, people, status . And the sad truth is that what we are seeking after is not really worth seeking after in the first place! We go after things that aren’t worth what we think they are worth. And even when we attain them, we soon find ourselves with new yearnings for something more and better than what we just attained.

2. God ransoms us from the slavery of our desires through Jesus Christ. And now in Christ, we are given new and better desires. Desires for things that will last forever! We stop running the race of this world, filled with cheap pathetic prizes, and instead run the race of the kingdom of heaven, where the prizes are things like an unfading crown of glory, a powerful glorious imperishable body, and a home forever with God.

3.Desiring  after God’s eternal kingdom gives the motivation to want the best for other people. We now see each relationship as potentially being an eternal relationship through Jesus Christ. So we won’t covet what our neighbor has but rather desire God’s eternal best for our neighbor.

4. Desiring after God’s kingdom serves as the constant reminder we need to be content with what we have right now. See for example 1 Timothy 6:10-12 and Hebrews 13:5-6. Grabbing hold of and cherishing the eternal life we will have and indeed already have with God through Christ is what will help us be content during the short human life we are living right now, no matter if we have a lot or a little during that life.

5. As always, it’s ultimately all about having Jesus. In a real sense, what we must do is appreciate that we have all we need already in Jesus. What we need to do is continue holding on to him and see how he meets every need, want, and desire that should come as time goes on if we keep holding on to him. The Psalmist puts it well for us, “Whom have I in heaven but you? And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God [i.e. our Lord Jesus] is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.” (Psalm 73:25-26)

6. From D.A. Carson’s devotional book, For the Love of God:

“Christians make their evaluations in the light of eternity. ‘The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever’ (1 John 2:17). Pity the person whose self-identity and hope rest on transient things. Ten billion years into eternity, it will seem a little daft to puff yourself up over the car you now drive, the amount of money or education you have received, the number of books you owned, the number of times you had your name in the headlines. Whether or not you have won an Academy Award will then prove less important than whether or not you have been true to your spouse. Whether or not you were a basketball star will be less significant than how much of your wealth you generously gave away. The one “who does the will of God lives forever” (1 John 2:17).