One thing I have desired of the Lord,
That will I seek:
That I may dwell in the house of the Lord
All the days of my life,
To behold the beauty of the Lord,
And to inquire in His temple.
– Psalm 27:4
How did a word come to have such a bad connotation? Our immediate reaction at the mention of “desire” is likely negative, perhaps for good reason. Our culture is quick to market our interest in unhealthy desires. A search of movie titles containing the word “desire” will show how closely the word is associated with sexual content—and not the kind endorsed by God. Even if not sexualized, desire so often suggests unhealthy things. It points to our tendency to chase after things of the world, things that fill our stomachs, adorn our bodies, modernize our homes, or otherwise provide the temporary pleasures available to us. Anyone looking to lead a godly life in this world might be inclined to shun desires for anything.
Is that our best way forward? Does God want us to be creatures void of desire? It wouldn’t seem so. In fact, it seems obvious that God created within us the capacity for desire. Our hearts, our minds, even our bodies are designed to yearn. God doesn’t want us to kill our desire; He wants us to direct our desire in ways that lead us toward Him.
“The mind of the prudent acquires knowledge, and the ear of the wise seeks knowledge” (Proverbs 18:15). “My soul longed and even yearned for the courts of the Lord” (Psalm 84:2). Even our physical desires were designed by God to be satisfied within the bond of marriage (Matthew 19:5; Genesis 2:24).
Certainly desire is a good thing. Desire is not something we invented in our human condition as a tool of rebellion against God. We have simply surrendered our desires to things that alienate us from God. The solution is not to kill desire; it is to direct it back toward the One with the greatest capacity to fulfill it. The psalmist gives voice to this. “One thing I have desired of the Lord; that will I seek.” What is that one thing? It is to be in God’s presence, to behold God’s beauty, to seek God’s will.
“Why do you spend money for what is not bread, and your wages for what does not satisfy?” (Isaiah 55:2). Good question. It is interesting how God is so familiar with our game of desires, always chasing things that never truly satisfy. Jesus once said to a woman drawing water from a well, “Everyone who drinks of this water will thirst again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him shall never thirst…” (John 4:13-14). Why should we hunger for things that only leave us craving more? Why should we thirst for things that cannot satisfy? Why should we desire things that can’t touch our deepest longings? God offers something better. “Delight yourself in the Lord; And He will give you the desires of your heart” (Psalm 37:4).
There are millions in this world who are craving
The pleasures earthly things afford;
But none can match the wondrous treasure
That I find in Jesus Christ my Lord.
– Richard Blanchard
The Winding Path 