Psalm 37:1-6 KJV A Psalm of David. "Fret not thyself because of evildoers, neither be thou envious against the workers of iniquity. For they shall soon be cut down like the grass, and wither as the green herb. Trust in the LORD, and do good; so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed. Delight thyself also in the LORD: and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart. Commit thy way unto the LORD; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass. And he shall bring forth thy righteousness as the light, and thy judgment as the noonday."
Over the years I have been a Christian I have come to realize something, it is that everyone does, in the end, what they desire. In other words a man or woman may struggle with things in their lives (bondages, hangups, besetting sins) and yet if in their heart of hearts they desire to please the Lord, God gives them promises they can hold onto and those promises keep then and eventually they do triumph (we will suggest the life of Jacob for this example). However, we have seen the other side of this coin as well, no matter how well someone seems to be doing if they cleave to their sins and idols then in the end no matter how good their show they go off in the wrong direction and in some cases are even given over to other spirits. However, in the final analysis it is still this, they have been led by a desire and have done what they have desired to do, this law is never broken.
I know of young people who all their life struggle constantly; at one time in and on fire for the Lord then off and you wondered even if they were saved, they needed constant encouragement to do the right thing. This can go on and on, they will be in one day and they will be out the next. Then an event takes place in their life that offended them and they rise up and leave the good path to walk in a broad way inspired by their offence (an easy Christianity). The interesting thing is this, they generally renounce the way they were on and say things like this,"It was never really in my heart to walk in that way anyways, I did things I know the leadership and my parents would not approve of and I lived in fear of being caught all the time but now I can do what I desire"
In the Last Days this point of loving and desiring the right things becomes even more important than in any other generation because we are living in the times when God begins to separate people based on their desires. Let's emphasize this point by the very famous portion of scriptures in regard to deception of the Last Days. 2 Thessalonians 2:8-12 KJV "And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming: Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness." Note this very last statement "but had pleasure in unrighteousness" In other words they desired wrong things, therefore, It is very very critical that we nourish the right desires. No matter what our state it is very important that we seek God for the right desires so that in the end we find ourselves set free and overcomers by the grace of God.
Matthew 6:24 states no man can serve two masters, he will love the one and despise the other... This is a very important key in our walk with God. Let's take this out of it's original context for just a moment (God vs mammon) and apply it globally to anything that might be considered an idol and cause one to have a desire in the wrong direction or divided loyalties. Here is the point in a nutshell; God, through the prophet Elijah, basically said to Israel make your choice, who are you going to be loyal to; God, the Lord or Baal? Get you affections and loyalties in the right direction! 1 Kings 18: 21 "And Elijah came unto all the people, and said, How long halt ye between two opinions? if the LORD be God, follow him: but if Baal, then follow him. And the people answered him not a word." The people were trying to serve the Lord and their idols and God was saying, "who will you serve?" And so God desires to bring us all to the place where David came when he said "One thing have I desired and that will I seek after..."
Let's look at this from another perspective as well, the perspective of being wholehearted for the Lord and the affairs of His kingdom. I want to turn our attention to the book of Judges and the song of Deborah. Deborah was fighting the battles of the Lord and the expectation was that the tribes would fight with her. Ephraim came down to fight, also Benjamin and Zebulun. The princes of Issacar were there to fight as were those of the tribe of Naphtali. However, there was great questioning as to why the following tribes were uncommitted and did not come down and fight with their brethren; Reuben, Gilead and Dan. They were not resolved as what to do and did not engage in the battles of the Lord. We can read the account:
Judges 5:12-18 KJV "Awake, awake, Deborah: awake, awake, utter a song: arise, Barak, and lead thy captivity captive, thou son of Abinoam. Then he made him that remaineth have dominion over the nobles among the people: the LORD made me have dominion over the mighty. Out of Ephraim was there a root of them against Amalek; after thee, Benjamin, among thy people; out of Machir came down governors, and out of Zebulun they that handle the pen of the writer. And the princes of Issachar were with Deborah; even Issachar, and also Barak: he was sent on foot into the valley. For the divisions of Reuben there were great thoughts of heart. Why abodest thou among the sheepfolds, to hear the bleatings of the flocks? For the divisions of Reuben there were great searchings of heart. Gilead abode beyond Jordan: and why did Dan remain in ships? Asher continued on the sea shore, and abode in his breaches. Zebulun and Naphtali were a people that jeoparded their lives unto the death in the high places of the field."
In this song of Deborah we see the tribes sized up before the Lord, there were some who were wholehearted and received commendation but there were others who did not participate because they had no resolve to fight. This is what happens when one has two loves, their heart is divided and therefore they do not engage the enemy. This is what becomes of having a divided heart, they are unable to fully participate in the affairs of the kingdom. In other words, their heart is divided between the Lord and other things and so they do nothing for the kingdom, the accomplish nothing for the kingdom but rather are on the sidelines and for all intense purposes they are impotent Christians that produce no fruit and accomplish very little.
Finally, we will wrap all of this together now. There are specific times that God brings His people to the point of decision (just as He did with Israel through the prophet Elijah), "Who are you going to serve; what do you really desire?" His expectation at that point is that we will make the right decision to forsake all other loves and cleave to Him that the heart will no longer be divided but will desire Him and His ways. Here is the caution though; when God brings His people to this point of decision it is His intention to set them free from the wrong desires (loves); If one successfully surrenders that area of their heart then God forever sets them free and their walk is one of wholeheartedness and commitment. However, if they cling to their idols in love then they will never rise to the fullness of their calling and experience in the Lord. The secret really is in always choosing to delight yourself in the Lord then He gives us the right desires to pursue and we enter into all God has for us. And so, in our hour of decision let us say "I delight myself in You Lord, give me right desires that I might pursue them and find you!"
