James
4:5-7 The Scripture says, “He yearns
jealously over the spirit that he has made to dwell in us”? But he gives more
grace. Therefore it says, “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the
humble.” Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee
from you.
Desires are deceptive because they seem to be so
right and so normal. But when natural affections become warped and monstrous,
they will blind us to the truth.
Who would not want good health, financial comfort, a
loving spouse, close friends, good kids, success on the job, good tasting food,
a life without accidents, or control over life’s circumstances? I would want all
of these, wouldn’t you? But the danger is having an improper level of desire
and craving for them. Things people desire are a delight and a blessing when
received from God’s hand.
But without God, they become a curse. When the level
of desire gets too high, they become a terrible, evil master in our lives. They
make good goods, but bad gods. They blind us, making us think they are the
source of contentment but deliver greater anxiety, lust, sin and death.
While some sins are done by choice, with full
awareness, other sins reflect the individual’s blindness. Because of the sinful
nature, sin reflects the dark, habitual, compulsive, hardened, ignorant,
confused, instinctive insanity of sin. The light of Scripture is the only
source able to penetrate such blindness.
Souls are awakened when the light of God’s Word
disturbs our ignorance and self-deceit. Then, souls are comforted and cured by
the love that shed substitutionary blood to purchase the inexpressible gift.