Chases

I just got back from the dentist and, of course, had to have chocolate cake and a Dr. Pepper. I've recently been introduced by various friends to some incredible musicians. Mind if I share? I hope that you don't. Do check out Steve Moakler on itunes. I believe he was, until recently, a student at Mizzou. This guy has a phenomenal voice and the rare ability to spark a good song into existence. Also, a band called Fundamental Elements has become so amazing to me. Their song "That Girl", especially, is so brilliantly sassy and fantastic that I put it on repeat for hours on end. Also, I've found an amazing rapper (yeah, I know. Rap sucks.). But this guy is straight theology injected into rap. It's incredible! He's got Piper sermon excerpts on Romans 5 and a song defending the doctrine of limited atonement. He's name is Shai Linne. You'd do well to check him out, even if you're like me and can't usually stand rap. I could list more but this would become a showcase and review and that thought wearies me somethin' fierce.

I've been struggling epically with desires and contentment. Some days are much easier than others. Some days aren't. I was reading through 1 Timothy 6:6-11 the other day. Paul says that it is with contentment that great gains in godliness can be found. Why? Because we have nothing here. We are the terrestrial tenants. And so, Paul argues, since our eternal destiny will not be inclusive of the stuff we accumulate here, then why crave it? Yes, these verses deal immediately with material possessions and the harmful senselessness of it. But, like everything, this is an issue of the wellspring (what Prov.4:23 calls the heart). It's a contest of desires. If I have food and clothing, I'm supposed to be content. Why? Because my desires are to be sated with something else, with something more. What am I to chase and be satisfied with if not the beautiful things on the earth?

A relationship is something that I can't take with me to glory. Despite what the poets sing, a romance is limited to life on the ground. It's like a balloon tied to a tree. It will never leave the atmosphere. So what do I do? I am designed to desire. The original blueprint for man included him being a chaser. But cravings can burn my world down if they seek to embrace the many infernos found in my stay on earth.

But verse 11 unleashes me! Look at this: "But as for you, O man of God, flee these things [the things of this world that I tend to crave]. Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, gentleness." Pursue these! Chase these! Chase them down and capture them. Engross yourself in the art of pursuit. But why is that hard for me? Because the object of that chases is godliness. It's a pursuit of something that my sinful flesh wants nothing to do with. It will require an iron fist and a heart in love with God. Righteousness. Godliness. Faith. Love. Gentleness. I want more of them. And I want to want more of them!

If I can become thoughtfully desirous (the opposite of infatuated) with these traits of a man of God, I can enjoy and find intense (and intensely real) fulfillment in Christ, thus glorifying God. And for me to seek that kind of contentment in the love for a woman (though that love be good), I'd be missing the point entirely. I can't take it with me. But those 1 Tim.6:11 attributes will be with me in glory and, indeed, already permeate it. To chase a romance without first having captured godliness is a remarkable display of wasted time.