Misguided Desires 

   “The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will collect out of his kingdom all who cause others to sin and all evildoers.  They will throw them into the fiery furnace where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth.  Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father.  Whoever has ears ought to hear.” (Matt 13: 41 – 43) 

   The wants and desires of this world are the weapons Satan uses to steal us away from God.  He begins with just a small temptation, maybe even just a suggestion.  We allow ourselves to consider that suggestion and, with further urging from the evil one, become convinced that we need what he has told us we need.  Before we know it we have traded eternal joy for the temporary pleasures of a sinful world.

   He tempts us to ignore God by telling us that we don’t need to go to church to worship Him.  We can worship Him anywhere and anytime, in the forests and the seas, in the sunrise and sunset, so why bother going to church?  Soon we will have replaced the worship that is due the Creator with the worship of His creations.

   God, on the other hand, desires to give us what we need, not just what we want.  He wants to give us humility, to recognize that He is God, not us.  He wants to give us obedience to His will so that we may fulfill the plans for glory that He has for us.  He wants to give us forgiveness for our sins so that we may spend eternity with Him in His heavenly kingdom.

   We are both blessed and cursed with free will.  We can accept God and His truths and look forward to eternal life in His kingdom, or we can say no and follow the ways of the world into eternal loss.