Insatiable Desire

James 4 : 1 – 3, Where do wars and fights come from among you? Do they not come from your desires for pleasure that war in your members? You lust and do not have. You murder and covet and cannot obtain. You fight and war. Yet you do not have because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures. -NKJV

Isaiah 55 : 2, Why do you spend money for what is not bread, and your wages for what does not satisfy? Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good, and let your soul delight itself in abundance. -NKJV

The Apostle Peter writes in his letter that Satan goes about as a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour. Jesus teaches in John 10 that He has come that we might have life and enjoy it to the full. You will notice that God wants us to have life and to be satisfied. On the other hand, Satan wants to devour our lives as a lion consumes its prey.

The way that we can allow Satan to consume our lives is through evil desire. You will know that the enemy is attempting to devour your life when you become dissatisfied or discontent with the blessings that the Lord has placed in your life. At this point, enough will no longer be adequate.

The Lord God told Adam that he could freely eat of every tree of the Garden of Eden, except for the tree of knowledge of good and evil. After the Lord God placed man in the garden with his wife, Satan used the serpent to tempt Eve with only tree that God told Adam not to eat of. Isn’t it interesting that the serpent drew Eve’s attention to the one tree that God forbade them not to partake of?  

We know from Genesis 3 that the Tree of Life was also in the midst of the garden. However, it isn’t mentioned in Genesis 2 or considered by Adam or Eve. The tree that could have empowered them to live forever, they ignored. Instead, they only focused on the tree that had the power to destroy them.  

We will know a wrong desire has entered our hearts when we focus more on the things that God’s Word instructs us to resist, and we resist the commandments which protect us from sin. David gave into a sinful desire when he sent for Beth-Sheba and had an adulterous affair with her. The prophet, Nathan, told David that he sinned, and he had also despised the commandments of the Lord. We can’t love sin and the Bible. We will have to choose between the two.

In the stories of Adam and David, God blessed them each with so much. However, when they allowed an evil desire to fill their hearts, God’s best was no longer enough. As Isaiah teaches, we ought to desire the good things that God offers to those who are hungry, which can satisfy our soul, not consume it.

Are you struggling with discontentment in your walk with Christ? Does it seem that enough just isn’t enough anymore? This restlessness could very well be the enemy attempting to gain a foothold in your heart to pull you away from God and into bondage. If you’re struggling, do as the Lord instructs us in James 4 : 7. We are to submit ourselves unto the Lord, resist the Devil, and he will flee from us. Be strong by leaning on the Lord.

Pastor Asa Dockery

 

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