For those who consider themselves Christians, most of us would say that we love Jesus for who He is. I mean what’s not to love about Jesus, right? The Man who chose death to show us how much He wanted to be with us. But I can’t help but wonder if the moment we accept Christ, we unconsciously or consciously think we are going to get things we want because we are following Him? And besides He gives us “the desires of our hearts” Psalm 37:4, right?
My desires
Can I make a confession? If God really gave me the desires of my hearts, I would be ruined forever!
In Genesis 15, we see God’s covenant with Abram. In verse 1, we read “Fear not, Abram, I am your shield; your reward shall be very great”.
Know your identity in Him before you ask Him anything because if you ask Him things first, you will make a mistake of finding your identity in the things He gives instead of who He is for you!
I have to be so secure in Christ, that when He blesses me with things, I am not caught up in them or distracted by them because He is and He must remain the beauty of my life.
God was saying to Abram, this is who I am for you, all other things, those rewards will come later.
Just after God tells Abram that He is his shield FIRST…
The next verse starts like this: “But Abram said, “O Lord God, what will you give me…?” (Genesis 15:2)
I am not sure how I have missed this before, but the first thing Abram asks God after He tells him that He is his shield is “what will you give me?” Maybe I never missed this question, because I am always asking the same question. Oh God, please be merciful.
I pray that God doesn’t give me my desires, I want His desires for me because how else would I do His will if I am always wanting the fulfillment of my desires?
What’s in it for me?
God had told me to do something, and I had obeyed. And I really felt He was smiling down on me; but what happened next is shameful. Afterwards, I felt like God owed me something because I had just obeyed.
Am I alone in this? Have you been there? Wanting something in return because You obeyed Him?
“God I did this for you, now do this for me”, the reasoning goes.
Just because we follow God, some of us feel entitled to our prayers being answered.
Yes, without a doubt, God wants to bless me and you. In Genesis 15:5, it says “And He brought Abram outside and said, “Look toward heaven, and number the stars, if you are able to number them”. Then He said to him, “so shall be your offspring be”.
I am afraid that as Christians we get so caught up in the “what’s in it for me” that we start taking Bible verses out of context. For instance, most Christians have this one verse memorized, Ephesians 3:20 “Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly than all we ask or think, according to the power at work within us…” Now let’s take a step back and see what Paul was referring to before this verse.
From verse 14 to 21, Paul is praying for spiritual strength. Charles Spurgeon says this regarding these verses, “The basis of Paul’s prayer was his knowledge of God’s purpose. This means he confidently prayed according to God’s will. We can’t pray effectively if we do not have insight into God’s purpose and will”.
Here is the Apostle’s prayer before verse 20:
“For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man, that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height— to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.”
What Paul is really praying for is for the Ephesians to know the fullness of God. “What can there be higher than the fullness of God? It is logical to ask how this can ever be? How can something so far above us ever become reality? It can only happen because God is able to do far beyond what we ask or think”. Charles Spurgeon
Ephesians 3:20 is not about getting things from God, it’s about having the fullness of God. Besides, since when Christianity is about “what’s in it for us”?
Him now, rewards later
I want to be so immersed in wanting Him, knowing Him, that the rewards are nothing to me.
I want to be so in love with Him that I do NOT care if my prayers are answered or not! Just like Paul, I want to be at a place where with all honesty I can boldly say “I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord… to count all things as rubbish in order than I may gain Christ”. Philippines 3:8
I would be the first to admit that I am not there yet, but by the grace of God and by straining toward that goal, I will get there.
Right now, I just want to repent the “what will You give me” mentality. I want to follow You Jesus for just who You are and NOT expect any reward for doing that. I know You promise rewards for those who seek You for Matthew 16:33 says “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all the things shall be added to you”. Lord, I do not want to focus on the things that will be added to me. Lord, I want to be so lost in You, that even good things lose their value in my eyes.
Here is how we are going to do our part:
1) Turn our eyes only on Jesus
As that old hymn goes,
“Turn your eyes upon Jesus,
Look full in His wonderful face,
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim,
In the light of His glory and grace”
2) Pressing toward that goal
Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me His own. Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Let those of us who are mature think this way, and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal that also to you. Only let us hold true to what we have attained.
Lord, please help us. In Jesus’s name I pray, Amen!