November 15, 2022
How Desperate Are You?
I am a confessed chocoholic even though I have had to really cut back since being diagnosed as a diabetic. One Sunday afternoon I woke up from my nap and started looking over my sermon for that night. I decided to go to the kitchen for a little (chocolate) snack. Michele was asleep on the couch right outside of the kitchen so I tried to be really quiet so as to not wake her up and face her reminder that I didn’t need any chocolate. (She loves me enough to encourage me to keep my diabetes under control)
As I looked in the cookie/candy jar all that I could see that was chocolate was 2 bite size almond joy bars. I LOVE chocolate but I HATE coconut. So I rationalized that I could take the 2 almond joy bars and lick the chocolate off of them without actually touching the yucky coconut.
In a desperate move I tried to lick/suck the chocolate off of the candy bars without tasting the coconut. It was a total failure that ended with me spitting the whole nasty mess into the toilet. It then hit me that I am so desperate for chocolate that I will even try and do something weird to get it. Pretty pathetic uh?
I thought about this and wondered how desperate I am for the things of God. Am I willing to go to great lengths and try unconventional stuff to get closer to and have more of Jesus? Most of us are just happy to have enough of Jesus to keep us from going to Hell. But we certainly don’t want to have to put in any effort or try something new to experience Him on a deeper level.
When I read of the disciples in the Bible and the persecution, torture, and sacrifices that they experienced in order to follow Jesus, I feel ashamed that I don’t yield more of myself in order to know and serve Him better. These men and women were desperate for Jesus on a level that most of us can imagine must less want to follow. Many times, they gave up family, jobs, money, and even their health in order to be called a Disciple of Jesus.
I am asking God to make me just as desperate for Jesus and His presence in my life as I am for chocolate in my mouth. When I fast, I usually choose to not eat chocolate because it is the hardest thing for me to give up. So I am going to plan more fasting chocolate days in order to become more desperate for Jesus and His perfect will for my life.
In love with Jesus – Gary Mimbs