Let go of what “you” want

We tend to think what we want is so important. The desires we have are what seem to rule our lives. Now, on a certain level (and especially in society today) that seems like that should be OK. Many people might ask the question, “Well, what’s wrong with that”? But when you think a little deeper about the meaning of life, it forces the question, “Is that all there is to life—the pursuit of personal preferences and desires?” See, while providing a certain satisfaction on the natural level, it leaves the spiritual realm entirely vacant. Put another way, personal pursuits may provide momentary satisfaction, but they don’t provide us answers for the deepest longings of our souls.

The deepest questions about life and its meaning simply can’t be answered by a carnal pursuit of personal satisfaction. This is clearly evident by the multitude of successful people who, in the process of pursuing every earthly desire, and attaining everything they could have imagined, and reaching the pinnacle of their profession and are left asking themselves, “Is this all there is?” They’ve reached the top of the mountain, and once they got there, it wasn’t what they thought it would be. See, it’s easy to think these things can satisfy while you have not yet attained them. You know you’re not truly fulfilled. But you tell yourself, “Well, it’s just because I still haven’t reached my goal yet. Once I get there, though, that’s when the fulfillment and satisfaction will come. Then I’ll really be happy.” But it’s entirely different once you’ve achieved every goal imaginable, and it leaves you feeling nothing but empty and unfulfilled inside.

But few people think ahead to how this is going to play out. Even if you achieve all the fame, and wealth, and sensory pleasure in the world, will that really be enough? The thing about earthly pleasures is that a person has this gnawing hunger for them. But he wants more and more and more—and even while achieving more and more, that hunger is never satisfied. It wants more and more, but it never says, “That’s enough.”

The reason we can’t be satisfied, merely, on a physical level is because we are not, merely, physical beings. We are also spiritual beings. So, knowing that, it stands to reason that a spiritual need can’t be filled physically. A spiritual need has to be filled spiritually. Some atheists may argue that we aren’t spiritual beings. That we’re just merely physical substance and matter. But does that sound reasonable? Mankind has from the beginning of time asked questions with answers that lie beyond himself. He has asked the questions, “Where did we come from? What’s this all about? What is the meaning of life?” The reality is that our deepest questions and longings can’t be answered and fulfilled by some physical thing. This reality alone points to the existence of a spirit that dwells in the heart of man.

…Let’s go deeper

While we may want to go our own way, and do what we want, God has a different way for us. There’s a way for us to be fulfilled. There’s a way to fill the deepest needs in our hearts.

AV Matthew 16:24: “Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any [man] will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.” The condition set out at the beginning of this verse is denial of self. We can’t begin to take up our cross for Christ until we have denied self. Does that mean we purposely deny ourselves the things we want. Well, on a certain level, “Yes.” But what it really means is that our desires and wants are to be subject to the desires and wants of God. We may want certain things, but those things are brought under subjection to God. He not only has the preeminence in our lives, but His wants and desire have the preeminence in our lives. That’s what having Him on the throne of our lives means.

AV Luke 22:42: “Saying, Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done.” Jesus, before He went to the cross shows us a good example of denying self and submitting to the will of God. Jesus knew what the Father was asking Him to do. He didn’t want to experience the separation from the Father. He submitted His will to that of the Father. He was ‘obedient to death, even the death of the cross’. (Phi. 2:8)

AV Matthew 6:33: “But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.” The thing God requires of us is to put Him first, which also means seeking Him first. But God isn’t unconcerned with our wants and needs. He knows full well the desires of our hearts. But He is saying, “Put me first, and I will take care of all these other things.”

AV Philippians 2:4: “Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others.” Inherent in the denial of self is also that we need to be looking on the needs of others and not just our own needs. God shed His love abroad in our hearts. So, that love should come out in an expression of compassion for others. This is especially true in our love for other believers. It says in John 13:35: “By this shall all [men] know know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.”
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AV John 12:24: “Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.” Jesus’ example here of a ‘corn of wheat’ signifies how a grain of wheat has to die before it can bring up and grow into a plant that will bear fruit. The death precedes the fruit-bearing. Also, as the scripture says in Matthew 21:44: “And whosoever shall fall on this stone shall be broken, but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder.” We have to be broken. That brokenness involves us dying to self and a true repentance from sin. This is a process we have to submit to. God wants us to fall on this stone. This is the cornerstone—Jesus Christ.

AV Matthew 16:24: “Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any [man] will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.”