A Little More...

I wanted to explain the argument from desire a little more. So, I started thinking about it and remembered this quote from, guess who, C.S. Lewis. He puts things in a way I cannot.

He explains: Most people, if they had really to look into their own hearts, would know that they do want, and want acutely, something that cannot be had in this world. There are all sorts of things in this world that offer to give it to you, but they never quite keep their promise. - Mere Christianity, Book III, "Hope"

Later, he writes more: The Christian says, 'Creatures are not born with desires unless satisfaction for those desires exists. A baby feels hunger: well, there is such a thing as food. A duckling wants to swim: well, there is such a thing as water. Men feel sexual desire: well, there is such a thing as sex. If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world. If none of my earthly pleasures satisfy it, that does not prove that the universe is a fraud. Probably earthly pleasures were never meant to satisfy it, but only to arouse it, to suggest the real thing. If that is so, I must take care, on the one hand, never to despise, or be unthankful for, these earthly blessings, and on the other, never to mistake them for the something else of which they are only a kind of copy, or echo, or mirage. I must keep alive in myself the desire for my true country, which I shall not find till after death; I must never let it get snowed under or turned aside; I must make it the main object of life to press on to that other country and to help others to do the same.'

So, for example, I look at my little boy, Jackson, and think about the depth of my love for that awesome little person. I must keep in mind that my love for him is but a shadow of things to come. And, that, my friends, is an awesome thought. It makes me want to love all the more. It makes me love life all the more because of what it tells me about the God we serve. It makes me desire Heaven all the more that I might experience the ultimate reality of Love. It hurts (in a good way) to think on it. The Scriptures are clear on this point.

For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known. - I Corinthians 13:12

So we do not lose heart. Though our outer nature is wasting away, our inner nature is being renewed day by day. For this slight momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal. - II Corinthians 4:16-18

These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. For people who speak thus make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. If they had been thinking of that land from which they had gone out, they would have had opportunity to return. But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city. - Hebrews 11:13-16

So, the next time you find yourself desiring something more or better than this world can offer, don't feel guilty. Embrace it. Grab hold of that and don't let go of it because it the part of God in us calling us home to Him. And, when we get there, that home will never disappoint.

What do you want?

Earlier this evening, I heard some words in a song that got me to thinking. Well, actually, I was reading a good book, which started me thinking, and then, I heard the song. I don't know the singer of the song was, but he said something very interesting. He said that everybody wants to be loved. This struck as incredibly insightful. It is a true statement. Every person wants to be wanted. In fact, every person wants alot of things. Some people want power. Some want justice. Some want to be loved. Some want to love. Some just want the last piece of chocolate cake. Desires are innate to human experience, and they are, in and of themselves, good things for the most part. It is good to want things like justice and power and love and, yes, even chocolate cake. Desire was put in us to draw our attention to the Source and Fulfillment of such desires. We want justice because there is an ultimate source of Justice. Think about it. In this world, many things we consider injustices go unpunished. This is not justice. The bad guy is not supposed to get away with it. With this being the case, is it not odd that we desire such a thing as justice? Why desire justice if it doesn't always exist? The fact is that the desire to love justice comes from the Just One Himself. Desire, rightly aimed, is a wonderful gift of God, used by Him to draw us closer to knowing Him.

If you want to read a little more about this from a guy a lot smarter than me, click the link below.

The Argument from Desire