I've been reading a book by Ted Dekker, Obsessed. If you have not read anything by Ted Dekker, I'd advise picking up one of his books. He is a christian author, and writes an outstanding book, although I'm not entirely sure he's completely sane. Just read some of his books and you'll see what I mean. I jest though. One thing I've come across in his books is that he has a tendency to slip in dynamic life-changing theological ideas in a sentence or two, and then not really expound too much on them. He'd rather just let it penetrate the reader's mind and fester I think. Case in point, I came across on of these little snippets in the book Obsessed the other day. The character was recalling a sermon he'd heard on the Parable of the Hidden Treasure (Matt. 13:44) It's a short one, some people recall, other's don't know it. it's basically like so: [Jesus said,] "The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field." The statement that hit me is as follows though. "He seemed to be saying that man's passion for God ought to look more like desperation rather than reason."
Profound huh? Think about it though. How many times do we let our passion for God look like reason? Let's have a nice calm reasonable worship service. Let's let the Holy Spirit lead us as long as He leads us in a reasonable manner and doesn't ask anything too strange.
I think that I am...no, scratch that, I AM tired of reasonable worship. I want my passion for God to be an obsession, a desperation, for Him. I want to actually be able to truthfully say as the psalmist did in Psalm 42: "As the dear thirsts for the water falls, so my soul longs for you oh God."
I want to be a desperate man, a man obsessed with Him, and with leading others to Him. My wife and parents and I had a discussion the other night about Spiritual warfare. I got a bit loud, as I can when talking about something important to me; and it went something like this, "What are you worried about? God has not given us a spirit of fear, and we are battling a defeated enemy who has no weapons! Why would we NOT engage in spiritual warfare?!"
I want to see what God can do through a desperate man. or woman, or family. Police officers will tell you that a desperate person is one of the most dangerous you can deal with. They have nothing to lose. You don't know what they will do next, or what move they might make. They are not rational, they do not abide by reason, and they do not make reasonable decisions. I want to be a desperate Christian.
I want to see what God can do with a desperate person, and through a desperate person. Do you want to see blind eyes opened? Do you want to see deaf ears hear? Do you want to see the dead raised to life? The demons cast out, the enemy defeated, and the land claimed for the Lord? I say we need some desperate people!
I think I might be beginning to have a glimpse of what Paul was saying in Phillippians when he said, "But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith. I want to know Christ..."
You know Paul's back story, he was the next top dog in training for the Pharisiees. He studied under the top guys, went to the best schools, and knew it all by heart. He lived out what he believed to a tee. None could match his obsession with the law. And then, in a moment, he sees God, has a face to face encounter basically, and he says, "Everything I did is rubbish!" "I only want Jesus!" He was a desperate man. I want to be too. And I want to teach others to be as well.
Tell me what you think, and please keep me in your prayers for my back, that it will continue to get better, it is not 100% yet. Stiffness in leg and range of motion are my main problems at the moment.
I leave you with this.
"He seemed to be saying that man's passion for God needs to look more like desperation than reason."
th
