As human desires go in the church, they get a pretty bad rap: they are seen as evil, selfish, sinful; but desires can also be godly: Love, righteousness, goodness. The key revolves around which desires are ‘ruling the roost’ you might say – the sinful desires or the godly ones. Let’s slow down and consider what desires are getting hold of us. The Apostle Paul tells Timothy to “Flee the evil desires of youth and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace along with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart.” (2 Timothy 2:22) Evil desires in youth? There are many – even in old age, I imagine! But there also exists the potential for godly desires flowing from a pure heart (one made pure by God’s grace through Jesus Christ!) 

Lord God, deepen my desires for righteousness, faith, love and peace.

We step into this week singing alleluia to You, Father, who gives us a righteousness that comes through faith in Jesus;

We sing alleluia to You, Jesus, who calls us to follow You;

We sing alleluia to You, Spirit, who enables us to become righteous by faith in Jesus Christ;

In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, Amen.

Mark 7:5-23

The Pharisees and teachers of the law asked Jesus, “Why don’t your disciples live according to the tradition of the elders instead of eating their food with defiled hands?” He replied, “Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you hypocrites; as it is written: “‘These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. They worship me in vain; their teachings are merely human rules.’ You have let go of the commands of God and are holding on to human traditions.” And he continued, “You have a fine way of setting aside the commands of God in order to observe your own traditions! For Moses said, ‘Honor your father and mother,’ and, ‘Anyone who curses their father or mother is to be put to death.’ But you say that if anyone declares that what might have been used to help their father or mother is Corban (that is, devoted to God)— then you no longer let them do anything for their father or mother. Thus you nullify the word of God by your tradition that you have handed down. And you do many things like that.”

Again Jesus called the crowd to him and said, “Listen to me, everyone, and understand this. Nothing outside a person can defile them by going into them. Rather, it is what comes out of a person that defiles them.”

After he had left the crowd and entered the house, his disciples asked him about this parable. “Are you so dull?” he asked. “Don’t you see that nothing that enters a person from the outside can defile them? For it doesn’t go into their heart but into their stomach, and then out of the body.” (In saying this, Jesus declared all foods clean.) He went on: “What comes out of a person is what defiles them. For it is from within, out of a person’s heart, that evil thoughts come—sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. All these evils come from inside and defile a person.”

What jumps out at you about this reading? Ask God why and respond as is appropriate.

Mark 4:19

The worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things come in and choke the Word, making it unfruitful.

Any desire that effectively chokes God or His Word out of first priority in our lives has risen to the level of sinful. Even desires for quietness, peace, or love can become ungodly when they start trespassing God’s will for us.

Lord, I want to pursue righteousness; may all my desires pertaining to this world always take a back seat to my faithfulness toward You, my pursuit of Your righteousness, ensuring that Your Word always remains fruitful in me.

Amen.

Psalm 37:4

Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart.

People have desires in many areas of life, from youth to old age: Physical, spiritual, emotional, financial, etc. While some desires are wrong in any situation, other desires can be healthy – even blessed by God. Take a moment to ask God himself to be the object of your desire (so that you may delight in him) and that any fulfilling of other desires is subject to His approval.

I desire to delight first and foremost in you, Lord!

Amen

Galatians 5:24

Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires...

Ephesians 4:22

... put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires…

The Apostle Paul gives us a great image to use when fighting sin-driven passions and desires: Crucify them – see them up on a cross. One can’t easily imagine a cross without remembering Jesus’ own death for our sins, thus creating a strong persuasive image to boost our spirit’s desires to live for God instead. He shares a second great image in Ephesians: Envision your sinful desires as dirt-stained clothing to be taken off and replaced by new, unstained clothes. The kicker here is that, according to grammar rules, the act of ‘putting off’ your clothes here is a continual rather than a one-time event. In other words, we are in regular need of changing our clothes because of sin, so for those who like to change clothes often, this is a great illustration.

Lord, I crucify my sinful passions and desires so that I may live for you rather than for myself. Dress me with your righteous clothing. In Jesus’ name,

Amen

Romans 8:5

Those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires.

Oh, to be focused on what God desires and have those things become my desires! Wouldn’t that be nice? Paul encourages us to find this by living according to God’s Spirit. This is the Spirit who raised Jesus from the dead, created faith in us, and lives within us. Time to draw on His expertise and influence in such passionate areas as our desires:

Spirit, help me to set my mind on Christ and His will, to get aligned with your desires for me. In Jesus’ name,

Amen

Galatians 5:16

Live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature.

Skip analogies for today and see the truth directly. If we live by the Spirit, our sinful desires won’t get gratified; instead the spiritual desires will rise to the fore and receive attention. This is who you want to be, correct?

Lord enable me to live by your Spirit that I may satisfy my godly desires – to your glory!

Amen.