3 wants & isolation

Regular readers will probably realise that maths, patterns & logic are core to my existence......this obviously permeates my reading of scripture. My last but one blog (w3grace) was a good example of that, this one is along similar lines.

I've been reading 1 John for most of this year - the underlying themes of love & sin patterns have been & will be posts on others days, for now I'm elsewhere, to be exact, 1 John 2:15-6 (MSG)

Love of the world squeezes out love for the Father. Practically everything that goes on in the world - wanting your own way, wanting everything for yourself, wanting to appear important - has nothing to do with the Father. It just isolates you from Him

Reading those two verses, it doesn't take me very long to recognise myself. Words like pride, self & vanity come to the fore. And so, I am again faced with a choice as to what's more important & desirable to me in life...

• I do want my own way - so badly, most of the time (but less than used to be the case!!), this isn't helped by the fact that I'm also right most of the time! (that's a mix of leader, pride & a few other things talking)
• I do not want everything for myself - I am blessed with a generous spirit & whilst not blasé, remaining selfless is something I continue to cultivate
• I do want to appear important - at my worst, I couldn't put into words how much this is the case. Those 6 words represent a 'daily taking up my cross', created by a desire for significance alongside vanity
• I do not want to be isolated from Him - in Him I am unconditionally loved, in Him I am complete, in Him I find rest

When I set it down in print it's dead easy & I wonder what all my fuss is about - just choose Him & die will you. Yet, back in the realities of life, the demons of the soul that are pride & vanity exert themselves. That phrase is taken from Finding Happiness by Abbot Christopher Jamison, a book that continually challenges & educates me in my discipleship. More of all that in my next few posts.

Back to you...

Q: how do you score on John's wants?

Q: what drives those wrong attitudes & behaviours?

Q: where do you need to be more aware & thereafter more intentional?

In his excellent the me I want to be, John Ortberg repeatedly uses a phrase there is a God and it is not you. We'd all happily agree with those words & yet in our actions, our wantings, we are tempted to behave otherwise.

Rather than being downcast (I know I'm not) - my prayer is that even today we will each see a little more clearly the need for less of 'me' & more of Him.

Be blessed

Jonathan