Unsurprisingly there will be many victims of debt this January in Jersey due to consumers over spending during the festive period last year. And to add to those pressures it is this month that the sales continue with a vengeance! 50% off! - Buy one get one free! - 75% off! – Sale, Sale, Sale!
Tempted? - Eve was! (See bold above) So how can we discern our own desires to avoid us getting in this mess?
We know, for example, that all adverts and sales promotions are aimed at our desires:
• The never age anti wrinkle cream
• The breakfast slim fast plan
• The female magnet after shave
• The quick quid/payday loans that get you what you want without having to wait.
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All - to name but a few - all aimed at our self seeking, self promoting desires. All no different from the multi-faceted advert to which Eve succumbed way back in Genesis.
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“You say, 'If I had a little more, I should be very satisfied.' You make a mistake. If you are not content with what you have, you would not be satisfied if it were doubled.” (C H Spurgeon, preacher and writer, 1834-1892)
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TV programs like ‘X Factor’ and ‘Britain’s Got Talent’ draw in multitudes of people with the desire to be famous, some of whom can’t sing for toffee and make one cringe just watching their pathetic efforts for a spot of fame.
And all of these have a common theme…the desire to be wealthy… noticed…wanted… liked.
Or how about the likes of Jerry Springer and Jeremy Kyle, where we all get to see the sinful lifestyles of others? The crowd booing or cheering as they see fit according to the comments made by the participants on the stage?
I’m sure most viewers would have a secret sense of contentment that they are better than these sinners. This time, though, it’s the viewers that share one thing in common - the desire to be the judge, the superior....
But have you ever wondered what the world would look like without desire? No adverts, no sales, no business, no economy? Desire is the global driver.
So is desire itself the sin, or is it because of sin that desire has been corrupted? What if our desires were radically changed from ‘self-seeking’ to ‘God-seeking’, to love-God’ and love-neighbour, in fact?
What would the world look like if we all desired the same as Jesus, The Jesus who was there from the beginning of creation and gave up his rights as King to live amongst us sinners? The Jesus who truly deserved to be noticed…wanted… liked... and loved?
This Jesus, if he judged others, would be just in his judgment since he himself was without sin, gave up all desire for this world and for all its glory, and even sacrificed his own life for the sake of others.
Perhaps, just maybe, because of him, we all might see the error of all our desires and …desire to change them?
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Now, today, what would this world look like if every man, woman and child would seek the common good of others, because that common good is the will of the God of the Lord Jesus Christ? No desire for brownie points with God; no motive for gain; simply because we all…wanted to!
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‘Come, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and he who has no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.’ Isaiah 55:1
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What Would This World look like?
• Mr Nip and Tuck would be made redundant.
• A woman would enjoy her God given figure and not desire a size zero.
• A man would love his wife and not desire another woman.
• Perhaps impulse buying would cease and the loan sharks become extinct.
• And maybe, just maybe, we might all live in a better world.
…Selah
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