I have observed when I am considering twenty or thirty different desires, that irresolution as to which one to act on (with the degree of required determination and effort to carry it through to fruition) seems to precipitate in me a debilitating mental inertia. As a result, while I languish in indecision, my life may come to resemble the stagnant pools that breed disease. However, I have discovered that when I can direct all my desires into one channel, the result may be more like a river of water, that can run swiftly and can be accurately aimed to irrigate the fields. The arrow of one's focused desire can go straight to the target of accomplished purpose.
Just a few short days before the end of Jesus' life on this earth, a certain group of Greeks came to Philip, one of His disciples, with a very specific request: "Sir, we would see Jesus." (John 12:21) All their desires had converged into that one intent purpose. It can be a very blessed thing for a man to bring his desires into focus, so that they all center on one object. "Blessed are the pure of heart, for they shall see God." (Matthew 5:8) One aspect of this purity of heart is singleness of eye. We no longer are occupied with numerous competing interests apart from God, but God Himself has become the exclusive object of our attention. All of us have a heart cry, "Won't someone show me some good!" Many people seek satisfaction in earthly comforts, in entertainment, or in riches. But there is a state of being which inevitably rivets all one's desires away from the general quite markedly to the very specific. When I recognized my true condition before a holy God (when my heart was awakened by a conviction of guilt for how my egocentricity and rebellion had offended Him who held my life in His hands), and I perceived my great need for mercy, I had only one desire. There is only one Mediator at that point of need. Nothing else would satisfy. Like the Greeks long ago, that day I cried out, "Oh, that I knew where to find Him! I must see Jesus!" All the gold and glitter the world could offer could have been poured at my feet then, and it would have drawn no attention from me, for my single, cogent desire was, "I must find HIM!" Nor could mere religious doctrines, or empty ceremonies and rituals suffice for the burning thirst of my sin-weary soul. "Don't offer me an empty pitcher - Give me water or I die! My only desire is Christ." For there is only one thing that could set me free from the chains of both the guilt and the power of sin within me, only One Person who could make it right between me and my heavenly Father whom this prodigal had grieved.
When we come to that place, where every power of our being meets in one central desire - when we would give up everything we'd ever hoped for if we could only have Jesus - then we are very close to coming out of the darkness we feel suffocating us and into the daylight. He loves us, and He will respond to such a plea, and give us our heart's desire. We will see Jesus.
When we come to that place, where every power of our being meets in one central desire - when we would give up everything we'd ever hoped for if we could only have Jesus - then we are very close to coming out of the darkness we feel suffocating us and into the daylight. He loves us, and He will respond to such a plea, and give us our heart's desire. We will see Jesus.
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