When I graduated high school, someone, very wisely, rather than giving me “10 Steps to a Successful Life,” or “The Future is Yours Graduate,” they gave me a little, tacky looking book by a guy named A.W. Tozer. The book:Â The Knowledge of the Holy. It turned my life upside down, and I have yet to recover from topsy-turviness. I have come to grips with the fact that holding to the historic, biblical, heroic Christian truths will make my viewpoints seem cockeyed to this world. Tozer, unlike most in his generation, was unwilling to have a mere mental ascendency to truth; he was concerned with the human being experiencing the majesty and glory of the thrice-holy God.
In my perusal through Tozer’s works, I found an obscure but precious book of his, which is a collection of the editorials he wrote for the “Alliance Weekly” magazine. It is entitled: Born After Midnight. In the very first chapter, there is an incredibly striking line that must be embedded within our understanding. Tozer says: “Yet for all God’s good will toward us, He is unable to grant us our heart’s desires, until all our desires have been reduced to one.”
Oh the foolishness of our heart! We want all the benefits of God’s goodness, mercy and love; however, we want it on our terms, and we want it to still coddle our fleshly cravings. But, until we remove all our idols, and recognize that Jehovah Tsidkenu is all we need, is our only hope, and He in fact is the whole reason we were made. We were made for His pleasure, and in pleasing Him, we find our pleasure. Is it not the greatest tragedy that we seek all of God’s benefits, without longing for Him, only, ever Him? It is like a husband that only wants his wife for the things she does for him, rather than wanting her, for the virtue and loveliness of who she is.
I have an ache within my soul, to see all other desires baked down into one. To say with David: “One thing have I desired of the LORD, that will I seek after [. . .] to behold the beauty of the LORD (Psalms 27:4).” One desire alone can bring final satisfaction; all other desires lead only to dissatisfaction.
You must be logged in to post a comment.