The tyranny of want

We are refreshing the kitchen. Wallpaper stripped. Walls repaired and sealed. Repainted in "sunrise" and "sunflower." Yeah...it's bright. As most home improvement projects go, there is always more that we want to do before the money runs out. We would like to install new counter tops, sink, faucet and disposal. We would like to update the undercounter lighting. We would like to have a new kitchen table and chairs. The list goes on and on. There are many things we want, but only so much we can actually have...or is there?

After all, we have good and available credit. Enough to cover the wants in the kitchen. If we wanted to incur debt and do the kitchen the way we really want it to be, then so be it. That would be our choice and no one could tell us any different. It may not be fiscally healthy for us to run a couple thousand dollars in debt, but it would be our choice.

Want is the tyranny of our existence. Preference is our governor. Choice is the absolute in a culture where absolutes are viewed too often as heretical and hateful. 

Want...preference...choice.

One of my sons lately discovered the Amazon app on the iPad. In the course of one hour he asked me if he could buy a bass guitar, a 4-pack of smoke grenades and a Samurai sword! When I told him "no" each time he said, "but I want it!"

Unfettered want is tyranny to the soul. Unfettered want...

 Robs me of my humanity. We were made to know the contentment that comes from a relationship with God. We were made to rest in His presence and indulge in His joy, peace and hope. To be truly human is to rest in the life-giving relationships that God has given to us, but when we indulge in want we jeopardize those relationships. We obey want at the expense of relationship. In fact, want can kill relationship. If want is my ultimate driver, and I want a new spouse, a new relationship, a new thrill or just to be happy, then I will drop my stale, old, unpleasing relationship (that may have great potential to be good and bring great satisfaction with a little work) like a greased pig.

 Only expands my appetite for more. Appetites are bottomless pits of want. We think that by feeding an appetite we will sate it. Feeding an appetite isn't like pouring concrete into a hole, it's more like pouring a milkshake into a colander. It gets fed, but in time you'll need to feed it again.

 Tempts me to be god. Eve wanted the fruit. She wanted to be wise. She wanted to be like God. Her want led her to disobey the Word and will of God. Her want supplanted God's Word and will. Her word and her will became the supreme authority for her. When we obey our want instead of truth, we find ourselves slipping toward self-liberating tyranny.  There is only one God, and I ain't Him! Neither are you.

Want some peace for your soul?  Give your wants a rest.
"I pray that God, the source of hope, will fill you completely with joy and peace because you trust in him. Then you will overflow with confident hope through the power of the Holy Spirit." Romans 15:13