Three Things

“The one thing I want from God, the thing I seek most of all, is the privilege of meditating in his Temple, living in His presence every day of my life, delighting in His incomparable perfections and glory” Ps.27:4 [TLB]

We will continue our study of Luke 14:15-20. If you look at the whole story, you will see that it is not just about the wife or the oxen, Jesus is saying ‘you should crave Me, the Giver of the wife, the oxen, the field and much more’. God wants us to crave Him [the Giver] more than gift. It’s time for the family to go for the annual summer trip but something happened this year and the money just isn’t enough. Now imagine the wife says to her husband, you stay back and work. The children and I will go but work so you can keep sending us money. What she is saying in essence is that her husband is not really important in this equation but his money is. We want the gift but we are not interested in the giver.

This is a major problem in a lot of relationships. One person has something to offer and the other person is just after what the other person has to offer. You hear a woman say, my husband is so romantic, it simply means he pursues her. At the end of the day after getting her, he will get intimacy, right? But a lot of us men pursue intimacy. And the wife is saying, what about me? And the man is saying, what’s the difference? And the woman is like no, what about me, the giver of the gift? Pay attention to the giver. Pay attention to your spouse.

These things that God has freely given us should not be the center of our craving. Rather, the Giver- God, should be the center of our craving.

These three things, lust of the eyes, lust of the flesh, and pride of life are the same things the enemy uses to trap us- be they things that God has legitimately given us, or things that God has not even given us at all. Let’s say God has given you a very successful business. The enemy will still attempt to use the lust of the eyes, lust of the flesh, or the pride of life to take you from God. Also, if it is something God has not given you, maybe another person’s wife, the enemy will still try to use the same thing, the lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh, or the pride of life. Just like he did with Adam and Eve, “And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat” Gen.3:6 [KJV]. Good for food – lust of the flesh; pleasant to the eyes – lust of the eyes; to be desired to make one wise – pride of life.

Prayer: Father, deliver me from the lust of the flesh, the pride of life, and the lust of the eyes in every area of my life, in Jesus Name