What Does He Want?
Or can I? As Popeye so masterfully stated, “I yam what
I yam, and that’s all that I yam.” God
made me like this, didn’t he? The whole
world is telling me, “Be yourself. Follow your heart. Go after your desires. The world is your oyster. Live a little. Take what you can get. Go for it!”
But does God have an opinion?
1 John 2:15-16 NKJV
15 Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the
world, the love of the Father is not in
him. 16 For all that is in the
world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world.
That
seems pretty plain.
Let
me tell you what sparked this whole thought.
Last night, while watching some YouTube videos, one of those obligatory
ads popped up in the middle of what I was trying to watch. It was an ad for the Venetian hotel in Las
Vegas. What is remarkable is that I didn’t
hit ‘skip ad’ as soon as I could. I
guess it was kind of like watching a hypnotic train wreck, spiritually
speaking. This was one of the last
things I saw before I slept last night.
And the memory of it really bothered me.
So much so, that in my morning study today, I thought of it again.
The
whole ad is very flashy, and you can tell, they spared no expense—lots of
gambling dollars to spend on advertisement, I suppose. It’s extremely stylish, all in dark, scarlet
reds, blacks, and whites. I didn’t
recognize the song entirely at first. It’s
super-hip, with a funky techno beat, but then I noticed it said something about
Willy Wonka. I then realized this is the song the spoiled-brat kid, Veruca
Salt, sings right before she falls through the garbage-chute trap door. The lyrics are, in part, as follows:
I want the world,
I want the whole world.
I want to lock it all up in my pocket
It's my bar of chocolate
Give it to me now!
I want today
I want tomorrow
I want to wear them like braids in my hair and I don't want to share them
I want a party with roomfuls of laughter
Ten thousand tons of ice cream
And if I don't get the things I am after
I'm going to scream!
I want the works,
I want the whole works!
Presents and prizes and sweets and surprises in all shapes and sizes,
And now!
Don't care how, I want it now!
Don't care how, I want it now!
I want the whole world.
I want to lock it all up in my pocket
It's my bar of chocolate
Give it to me now!
I want today
I want tomorrow
I want to wear them like braids in my hair and I don't want to share them
I want a party with roomfuls of laughter
Ten thousand tons of ice cream
And if I don't get the things I am after
I'm going to scream!
I want the works,
I want the whole works!
Presents and prizes and sweets and surprises in all shapes and sizes,
And now!
Don't care how, I want it now!
Don't care how, I want it now!
This. This is the song that the Venetian decided to
use to promote their swanky, hedonistic, adult playground. I think it’s perfectly fitting. Couldn’t think of a better song to demonstrate
the real spirit of such a place. And the
video that they placed with it was full of decadence, luxury, gambling. Lust of the flesh and the pride of life,
indeed.
Part
of me wants to say, if that’s your central purpose in life, to pursue pleasure
at any price, to chase the ‘stuff’, to follow after luxury at any expense, then
by all means, go. Live and let
live. Enjoy yourself. But the pleasures of sin, according to the Word,
are but for a season. It will not last
forever. It’s pure deception. And God tells me that I am supposed to COMPEL
you to follow after Him.
Look,
I don’t think there is anything inherently wrong with having nice things, with
going on good vacations, with making memories with those I love. But look at the spirit, at the intention. “I want it ALL, NOW. If I don’t get it, I’m going to SCREAM.”
The
thing about the ad that really spoke to my heart was that, more than being either
an endorsement or an indictment on the Venetian, this is the spirit of the age
we are living in. We chase things. We
sacrifice what is really important, because it’s not convenient, or doesn’t fit
into our 5-year plan. If the things God
desires for us get in the way of our personal plans, it’s easy to try and
justify working Him around our desires. And
we, as people who consider ourselves Christians, have to be so careful to not
allow ourselves to be sucked into such attitudes, because soon, what God wants won’t even factor into
our thoughts.
Oh,
we can make excuses. “Well, God knows my
heart.” That’s the best you can do? Of course, you’re right—He does know your
heart, and far from being a comfort, that ought to scare the living daylights
out of you. He knows exactly every single thought, every
single corner and crevice, every intention, and every time we ‘dissed’ Him and
did our own thing anyways.
God,
help us ALL.
God
isn’t looking for a people who will stamp their feet in a Veruca Salt
temper-tantrum, insisting on their own way.
That’s like the so-called Prodigal Son asking for his inheritance up front,
so he could spend it all while he was young and stupid enough to not appreciate
what he had been given. God isn’t a
chump, who has to take what He can get.
He’s no ultra-wimp, wringing His proverbial hands, crossing His universe-spanning
fingers, hoping against hope that one of us self-centered punks will deign to
give Him the time of day once in a while, when we can squeeze Him into our
schedule.
God
forbid.
When
I read how Peter talked about the way we should fashion our lives, I can’t
imagine him spouting any of the nonsense, ‘follow your dreams’ advice I quoted
above. (Here’s how my goofy sense of humor
works: I also can’t imagine Peter ever
supporting a trip to Vegas. I tried, but
the only thing I could imagine is Evangelist Peter praying all the heathens through
to the Holy Ghost. I guess Paul did that
in the Vegas of his day…Rome. So why
not?)
Here is what Peter had to say in 1 Peter 1:13-16:
13 Wherefore gird up the loins of
your mind, be sober, and hope to the
end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus
Christ;
14 As obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your
ignorance:
15 But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of
conversation;
16 Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy.
That
sounds like the exact opposite of the spirit of the world—and of Vegas—to me. Be ye HOLY.
And Paul said, in Hebrews 12:14:
14 Follow
peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord:
That
sounds pretty clear—and pretty exclusive—to me.
When
I re-watched the Veruca Salt “I Want It All” scene (from the 1971 Willy Wonka
movie) on YouTube, I was especially struck by her end. When Veruca’s father questioned Mr. Wonka on
where she had gone, and to where the garbage chute led, he answered, “To the
furnace!”
Would
that be the fiery furnace, mind you?
Look how this same chapter of Hebrews wraps up:
Hebrews 12:28-29
28 Wherefore we receiving a kingdom
which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably
with reverence and godly fear: 29 For
our God is a consuming fire.
I know speaking of God’s judgment
is no longer fashionable. I know
considering that He might not be pleased with every little desire of our flawed
human hearts isn’t fluffy, or feel-good.
But the furnace isn’t fluffy either, babycakes. And I have no desire to ever see that awful
place.
Holiness isn’t just the
price to be paid—it’s a beautiful privilege that pays dividends beyond anything
you or I could ever imagine. And there
is nothing this world has to offer that I want more than to one day be with
HIM.
I could just drop the mic,
so to speak, and walk away right here.
But even if I’ve made you mad while you’ve read this, isn’t there a tug
anywhere inside of your heart that wants to be right with Him? To please Him? To spend eternity with Him? C’mon, dig a
little deeper. Be honest, totally honest,
with yourself.
My ultimate goal is not
to be RIGHT. It is to be RIGHT WITH HIM. I am not sticking my thumbs in my ears,
wagging my fingers, and sticking out my tongue.
There’s no childish playground taunt here. I want YOU to be right with Him, too. And it’s not MY terms we are talking about
here. The terms of being made right lie
with Him alone. They are in His Word for
anyone to find. But do you really want
to know?
I pray you do. I pray that you see, like the people of God
finally did on the day of Pentecost in Acts 2, that they had nailed Jesus to
the cross by their own failures. And
that, even so, He died for them. And for
you. He calls for us to repent, just the
way that Peter preached in Acts 2:38, and to be baptized in the Name of the Lord
Jesus. He tells us that we, too, can receive
the gift of the Holy Ghost, just the way they had in Acts 2:4. They’d all witnessed the miracle, and now, Peter
is inviting them in to the same miraculous experience.
Recognizing your sin isn’t
meant to be the rejection of YOU. It’s
the recognition that WE NEED a SAVIOR.
We need to go to the Rock that is higher than we are, to be redeemed by
the spotless sacrifice. It’s the
beginning of humbling ourselves to see that our ways are not His ways, and that our methods won’t amount to anything at all
but death. Eternal death. We cannot try to fit God into our
philosophy. We could never contain Him. We are supposed to shape ourselves to be like
Him.
So, instead of crowing, “I
Want It All Now,” along with Veruca Salt, and all the cronies in Vegas, I’ll adopt
this as my theme song, instead.
Take this whole world, and give me Jesus,
Take this whole world, and give me Jesus,
Take this whole world, and give me Jesus,
No turning back, no turning back.
Though none go with me, still I will follow,
Though none go with me, still I will follow,
Though none go with me, still I will follow,
No turning back, no turning back.
The world behind me, the Cross before me,
The world behind me, the Cross before me,
The world behind me, the Cross before me,
No turning back, no turning back.
Paul B. Smith
“I Have Decided to Follow Jesus”
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