What Do We Want?

Several years ago, I read a book by either Philip Yancey or John Eldridge (I think!  And sorry, I do not have a great memory for what I deem as unimportant details...).  In it, the author wrote about the passage of John 5:1-7, in which a disabled man encounters Jesus at the Pool of Bethesda.  The pool was known for healing and the man had been lying there for 38 years.  That is thirty-eight loooooong years, day after day, hour after hour.  The passage of John states in several Bible translations/versions that Jesus asked the man, "Do you want to get well [or be healed]?"  And Yancey or Eldridge posed an interesting question:(and I paraphrase):  the disabled man had been lying by the pool known for healing for 38 years, hoping and wishing and wanting to be healed; why would Jesus ask something akin to "What do you want?"

That, my friends, is the question of the day: What do we want?

In many decades and in beauty pageants, the common answer was World Peace.  In the early 2000s, more people began to be environmentally-conscious.  Now firmly in the 21st Century, it is the iPad, iPhone, lower gas prices, job security, health insurance, 50" plasma TV, Wii, Kinect, etc.

Whatever temporary satisfaction things bring us, they can never answer the question of "What do we really want?".  I know that deep, deep, deep down, there is something within us that we just cannot seem to get at.  Nothing seems to touch that void, that emptiness.  Nothing we do, buy, say, or experience even comes close to reaching that point.  Heck, we probably do not even know what it is and what we are missing.

What do we want?

There is only one thing I have found to reach that level, and in fact, it happens to be a person, Jesus.  I know that if I let Him fill my heart, mind, and soul, I will experience contentment and joy and satisfaction and peace like nothing words can describe.  I am the first to admit that I am guilty of not letting Him saturate my life.  And I ought ask myself the question of "What do I want?" more often and deliberate on it.  I might actually live the life I want if I did, and get more out of it too!

A couple of verses further in the passage, Jesus Himself heals the disabled man.  Jesus is the source of healing, the source of having a life, the source of every desire we have deep in our souls and the source of fulfilling them.  He knows what we want, and yet He poses the question to us so that we question what we want.

 

 At the end of the day, it is an intimate relationship with Jesus that I want.  What do you want?

HAPPY NEW YEAR

I hope that everyone had a wonderful Christmas season and had some fun last night celebrating the arrival of another new year.  Personally, I didn't make it past 11.30pm...  But HAPPY NEW YEAR!!  :)

Years ago, I bought a curious little book by Henry van Dyke from a used book store (I think).  "Six Days of the Week" was originally published in 1924 and this book has apparently had several owners.  I see an inscription "To Frank from Aunt Hattie" and I see the name of another owner proudly written on the first page with the year 1976.  I used this book as a devotional some years ago, and decided to do it again for this year.

At risk of copyright infringement, I just want to share today's reading and my resulting thoughts. 

NEW YEAR'S DAY
The days of our years. -- Psalm 90:10

There it is -- all our years are made up of days; and all our days are but little parts of years.

Time may be only "a mental form," as the philosopher Kant said long ago (and as our ingenious Mr. Einstein has just told us, with the complacency of a commercial traveller inventing a new slogan).

But this mental form has a curious continuity.

It flows like a river.

It runs on like a road on which w are all journeying, and beside which we set up our milestones to mark the distance already traversed.

For each man it is his own birthday that tells him how many years of days he has had.

For mankind it is New Year's day, which Charles Lamb called "the nativity of our common Adam."

For each of us, how many failures, disappointments, losses!

Yet God has pulled us through, and we still have a chance to do better.

For mankind how many false starts, delays, disasters!

Yet the race goes on, indomitably hopeful.

It is a day for repentance, and patience, and courage.

And good resolutions?

Yes, please God!

For unless we men resolve to be good, the world will never be better.

For unless we men resolve to BE GOOD, the world will never be better.  This one sentence struck me more than any other.  Unless we resolve to BE GOOD...  no matter how hard we try, we know that we will never always BE good on our own.  We can never be good apart from God, but  I stand a much better chance of being good if I abide IN Jesus.  So therefore instead of resolving to be good, I resolve to be in Jesus.

So Mr. van Dyke, with all due respect, I think the last line ought to be amended to,

For unless we resolve to abide in Jesus, we men cannot resolve to be good, and the world will never be better.