Let's say the 23rd Psalm together. (The Lord is my Shepherd...)
I heard about a preacher who asked if any of the children could come up and say the 23rd Psalm. A little five year old bounced out of the pew and came to the podium and said: "The Lord is my Shepherd and that's all I want!"
As I was reading about godly leadership in the home I came across an interesting statement that has fueled this message today. It said there are three things kids today need that parents must teach them:
What to want.
How to wait.
How to work.
When we think of our wants there are two categories that come to mind: First, moral wants - some wants are right and some are wrong. And second, Christian maturity wants - some good wants are more important than others in which case we need wisdom and priority.
Wanting, waiting and working… these three are interrelated and are core elements of life. They can either direct us toward God’s blessings or His curses. Much of the scripture is devoted to training us in instruction about what we want, how to wait, and how to work for God’s glory and our good.
What is temptation? Is it not an appeal to your desire? Is it not first of all a way of turning your wants away from what is right and good? Sometimes temptation is a shortcut to getting something good that you want before God says it is time. That concerns waiting correctly. Sometimes temptation involves doing something wrong in an attempt to get something right, or giving up what is best for what is less. That concerns how to work.
When it comes to parenting our children to be faithful to the Lord, we need to be sure to help them learn the lessons of wanting, waiting, and working God’s way.
Let’s look at some biblical illustrations and then make some practical applications for us.
Wanting... The tenth commandment, look in Exodus 20 or Deuteronomy 5 for the list of the 10 commandments. Listen to God's word in the Law here. By the way, these ten commandments are the foundation for the rest of the commandments of God. The basis of the ten are the two: Love the Lord your God with all... and love your neighbor as yourself.
God tells us to watch out for what we want. We must learn to control our wants. Jesus reminds us of this many times, perhaps especially when he said, "Whoever looks at a woman to lust after her has already committed adultery with her in his heart." Coveting is about wanting. Wanting what others have. Wanting what is wrong for you to have. Remember King Ahab and the event with Naboth's vineyard? 1 Kings 21 tells the story. Ahab wanted Naboth's vineyard and Naboth would not sell it to him because it was Naboth's inheritance. Ahab went home whining and his wife Jezebel took matters into her own hands and had Naboth killed so Ahab could get what he wanted.
Remember Madam Blueberry of the Veggie Tales? She's so blue, blue, blue, blue, she's so blue she don't know what to do. All her neighbors have better things than her. Then Stuff Mart comes to town and say, "Happiness waits at the Stuff Mart, all you need is lots more stuff!" Madam Blueberry discovers that stuff won't give you a happy heart. The way to have a happy heart is to be thankful! (If you are borrowing this sermon, I suggest you see the video and expand on this illustration a bit by telling more of the story).
Misguided wants have caused us a lot of trouble.
What do you think Eve wanted when she took that forbidden fruit in the garden? You know the story. I use it all the time because it is so basic to understanding our human condition. Genesis 3 tells about the serpent that talked to Eve in the garden. He asked a question, “Has God said that you cannot eat from any tree in the garden?” He’s baiting her. Up until now Eve has been pure and perfect. Adam and Eve were created good, very good, like God himself. She knows God’s word about the tree of knowledge of good and evil. She and Adam have been obedient to the word of God. Their wantings and waitings and workings have all been good thus far. In fact, good is all they know. God commanded them not to eat of this one tree, the tree of knowledge of GOOD AND EVIL. They know good, but they do not yet know evil. God told them that when they ate of it they would surely die. That command alone should settle whether Adam and Eve ever WANTED to eat from that tree. Did they want to do what God said? Yes. Did they trust Him? Yes. Did they want to die? No. They had no reason to want anything but what God wanted… until now. Satan uses our other wants to lead us into what he wants. He wants to destroy us.
Eve answers the serpent, “We can eat from all of the trees in the garden!” “But God did say, ‘Do not eat from the tree in the midst of the garden, and do not touch it, or you will surely die.’” Some commentators have made a big deal about her adding that God said you shall not touch the fruit. Some say that she is changing the command and making it even more strict than God made it. I doubt there is anything to that. It seems to me that she’s just making it plain that God’s command was to leave that fruit alone, mess with it and you will die. After Eve’s response to his question Satan does two things: first, he lies about God by saying that God is a liar! (You will not die!) Why does he say this? To attack her faith in God's word! That's his first move. We are ripe for sin when we don't trust the word of God. Second, he appeals to her desires, her wants, by saying that she will become like God, knowing good and evil, if she eats of the forbidden fruit.
She listened to the liar, she looked at the fruit, she lusted after it, and then she let her new, misguided wants take control. She didn’t wait on God to come and talk about it. Waiting on the Lord got lost in this new wanting for what the liar has described. Without waiting or trusting the Lord’s word, she took an action, did a work, that has had terrible consequences for us all. What work did that disobedience do for her future, and for the future of all mankind? The very doors of death and hell have been opened up to swallow much of humanity as a direct result of this work of disobedience.
Watch out for what you think you want! Our wants need to be trained. Our children’s wants need to be trained. Our wants have a heavy impact on our destiny. Wanting to please God above all else can bless your life more than you can imagine. Especially if we wait on the Lord’s guidance and work obediently in His will. We may not be saved by our works, but we can surely be destroyed by them. And it starts with wants that won’t wait or work for God’s will. Wanting what does not please God has devastating results in our lives.
Faith in God and God's word redirects and trains my wants! Faith helps me do what I don't want to do until I receive what I really want.
Parents, what kind of wants are you helping your children to develop? What do they want? Are you training them to want what is good and Godly? Or are you feeding their fleshly wants by giving them things they see around them that are not helpful to them in their relationship with God?
Sometimes children want things that are just not good for them. It becomes our job to teach them what to want. (This has to start with our own example). If they are left to themselves they will eat unhealthy food, drink unhealthy drinks, play with unhealthy things, do unhealthy activities. Can you believe it? Of course you can! We all have the same problems here don't we? It takes training and the Holy Spirit's empowerment to overcome and control our natural fleshly desires.
Our wants are like the flesh and the spirit inside us. They both hunger for us to feed them. The one we feed most will ultimately control us. Galatians 5 talks about the fruit of the spirit verses the works of the flesh. The spirit represents the image of God, and the presence of God. The flesh represents the fallen nature that lusts for evil. Ever since partaking of the knowledge of good and evil, these two are at war within us. We either feed the flesh and follow its wants or we feed the spirit and fulfill its desires. We must choose one or the other. Whatever you feed will take control of your life.
Galatians 6: 7 Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap. 8 For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life. 9 Let us not lose heart in doing good, for in due time we will reap if we do not grow weary. (Where do you see wanting, waiting and working in this passage?)
James 1 describes temptation clearly in verses 12-15. Go there. Listen to the word of God:
12 Blessed is a man who perseveres under trial; for once he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him. 13 Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God”; for God cannot be tempted by evil, and He Himself does not tempt anyone. 14 But each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust. 15 Then when lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and when sin is accomplished, it brings forth death.
Look at verse 12 again. Where do you see something to want in this verse? Blessed, approved of God, the crown of life and loving God! These are great places to set our hearts and develop our desires in. Where do you see waiting in this verse? Persevering under trial, he will receive (future). The big question is, do we believe the reward is worth the wait?
Or, more deceitfully, there is this terrible lie that we can have what we want in the flesh now and later repent and get what we want in the Spirit? Many Christians today think that this plan will work for them. God’s word says that it won’t. Some Christians look at the thief on the cross and think, that's nice! I can live my life in sin and worldly pleasure and then at the last minute seek God's forgiveness and still go to heaven!
STOP RIGHT THERE!!! There is never any indication that anyone came to Jesus and turned away to live sinfully and later returned to get forgiveness so he or she could have it both ways. NOTHING IN THE BIBLE SUPPORTS THAT THINKING!!! (As far as we know this is the first time the thief on the cross encountered Jesus). On the contrary, the Bible says that if you do not learn to love God now, you will discover that the cords of your sin will hold you fast and you will die for lack of discipline, lead away by your own great folly. Proverbs 5:22-23. Look at James 1:12 again. Only those who are approved through trials will find the blessing of eternal life. (See also Acts 14:22, Romans 8:17, etc.). God nowhere offers grace to those who choose to sin now and fulfill their fleshly wants in hopes of repenting later. Persevering under trial speaks of obedience while enduring temptation. This is the waiting and working that finds God’s blessing and crown of life.
The Bible is constantly using blessings and curses to shape our wants and encourage us to wait on the reward while working for God’s glory in this fallen world.
We could look at every Bible character and follow their wants, waiting and workings and it clearly demonstrates that God cannot be mocked. Every single man and woman reaps what he or she sows. It is that simple.
Why does the Bible in both old and new testaments tell us that to Love God above all else is the greatest commandment? Why did Jesus tell us to store up treasures in heaven because where our treasure is our hearts will be also? Why are there so many warnings and encouragements in the scriptures about delighting in the law of the Lord or setting our hearts and minds on things above and not on things on the earth. Love not the world nor the things in the world… Friendship with the world is enmity toward God… (Col. 3:1-4; 1 John 2:15; James 4:4)
God’s word clearly trains our wants to be in line with God’s will. How? Through the motives of fear and love. Fear the Lord first! It is the beginning of wisdom. Lord the Lord foremost, it is the greatest commandment. Whatever you fear the most dominates your mind. Whatever you love the most dominates your heart! The Lord is worthy of all our fear and all our love.
So... how are you doing? What do you want this morning? Do you want the Lord? Do you want to follow Jesus Christ? Do you want Him enough to let go of the fleshly wants and wait on Him while you work in obedience to His will?
This isn’t rocket science. It is simple truth from the word of God.
BE SURE OF THIS: GOD WANTS YOU! Just think of how much He wants you! God’s patience, waiting, His sacrificial working, His Holy Spirit’s guiding… God wants you. But if you don’t want Him, He will let you go and let you face the consequences of your choices.
