Made for spirituality, we wallow in introspection. Made for joy, we settle for pleasure. Made for justice, we clamor for vengeance. Made for relationship, we insist on our own way. Made for beauty, we are satisfied with sentiment. But new creation has already begun. The sun has begun to rise. Christians are called to leave behind, in the tomb of Jesus Christ, all that belongs to the brokenness and incompleteness of the present world … That, quite simply, is what it means to be Christian: to follow Jesus Christ into the new world, God’s new world, which he has thrown open before us. – N.T. Wright
In order to attain what we desire most, we mistakenly believe that we must move forward, acquire more, learn much, guard relentlessly, achieve fame, win awards, and stockpile power.
And yet, our true desires are never met by our effort, ingenuity, or winsome charisma. Our true desires – the ones that emanate from the ground of our being and refuse to quiet their call until we fulfill them – are found through simple, quiet, effortless means.
Finding fulfillment in this life does not come by learning, but by unlearning. It does not come by grasping, but by releasing. Not by pursuing, but by surrendering to being pursued. Not by leading, but by following. And not by demanding, but by accepting.
The gateway to paradise – the kingdom of heaven – exists on this side of the grave. It stands open for all who would enter.
Finding that gate….is the focus of today’s episode.
Source Scripture
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Twitter: @AwestruckPod
Email: info@awestruckpodcast.com
Extras
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. C.S. Lewis
Desire is so fundamental to our nature that we often overlook its significance. Its guiding force. We are created – designed – to desire and to be satisfied.
Desire and satisfaction were part of Paradise before the fall. When God created the world and saw that it was good, he rested. When Adam and Eve worked the garden each day, they would stop in the evening and walk in the cool of the day beside the divine God of the Universe. And when they were hungry, they found satisfaction from taking the fruit of any tree in the garden.
Except one, of course.
The serpent injected venom into Eve’s desires and bent them toward the forbidden. Forget God and what He said, the serpent suggested, and become like him by eating from this tree.
Eve, having then entertained the idea of going against God’s guidance, looked at the fruit of the tree. The Scriptures say she saw three things that she desired: she saw that the tree was good for food, pleasing to the eye, and desirable for gaining wisdom.
And so, in an attempt to satisfy those desires, she took the forbidden fruit. And ate it. And then gave some to Adam, who was standing next to her.
Adam and Eve abandoned their natural, divine provisions that would naturally meet their desires and grasped for something outside the realm of God’s desire.
And yet, though we call this event the Fall – or Paradise Lost – what we find is God’s desire only beginning to reveal itself. God came to the garden in the cool of the day to find Adam and Eve, desiring to walk with them. He called to them when he could not find them, desiring their presence. And once they confessed their sin, He covered their shame with animal skins that he sacrificed, desiring to relieve their shame. He handed down discipline and ejected them from the garden, but left them alive and well, desiring to continue to be a part of their lives. And the rest of Scripture is the story of God’s divine pursuit – his holy desire – to win us back from doing the same thing over and over again – trying to gratify our desires with anything other than Him and His provision.
God’s desire is us. And when we loosen our grip on the forbidden fruit and take our eyes off its deceptive appearances, we find that what we really desire ourselves is God. And when God’s desires and ours converge, Paradise is regained.
Source Scripture
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Twitter: @AwestruckPod
Email: info@awestruckpodcast.com
Extras
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. C.S. Lewis – Mere Christianity
We all possess a deep sense of longing – a force deep within the soul that compels us to seek – to hunt – that which will make us complete.
Too often – most often, really – as this singular force wells up within us to propel us on the journey toward wholeness, the ego intercepts it, misinterprets it, and splinters it into numerous, disorganized fragments that, bereft of potency and purpose, cling briefly to the nearest pleasure. Even in its anemic state, however, these fragmented forces of longing realize that they have not yet found their mark and make another go at it.
The outcome is what we might call the human condition. Our lives are a frenzy of attachments that fail to fulfill, leaving us at best confused but determined to find the so-called right attachment or at worst defeated and dismayed that there may be no real way to be made whole.
Today, we’re going attempt to go deep into the soul and rediscover that original, wholistic force of longing as it exists before its disintegration and debilitation to see if we can allow it to re-emerge, uninhibited by the ego, and do its intended work in us. This is the only way to transcend the human condition and finally find our home in the divine.
Source Scripture
Eradicating Evil: John 1:35-51
Connect
Twitter: @AwestruckPod
Email: info@awestruckpodcast.com
Extras
The Awestruck Podcast musical playlist
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Suggested Movie: The Last Samurai starring Tom Cruise