Today's readings are Nehemiah 9.22-38 ( http://www.gnpcb.org/esv/search/?q=Neh.+9.22-38 ) and 1 Timothy 6.3-21 ( http://www.gnpcb.org/esv/search/?q=1+tim.+6.3-21 ).
We want what we want. Of course, that's an absurd observation. Of course we want what we want. As opposed to wanting what we don't want? But we want what we want for our own pleasures and comfort. We desire to be rich in the vain hope of security. We desire to be influential so people will look at us with respect and honor. We desire godliness but not because God is good. We desire godliness because we think we might use it for gain. And all these wants lead us to bondage and disappointment. Like the people in Nehemiah's time we have desired wealth and power but have managed to gain bondage for ourselves.
Let us look seriously at our lives today. How can we approach all we do with a desire to delight in the provision our Lord has made for us? How can we do all we do today for God's glory and to love our neighbor? We can do it through the healing and forgiving work of Jesus, as we lay ourselves down in repentance (which he gives us as he convicts us of sin) and realize the great forgiveness of our Lord and Savior, who loved us and gave himself for us. Are we sinners in need of a savior? And those around us? Those we deal with today are also sinners in need of a savior. There is no boasting except in Christ. Let us boast in Christ today, wanting what he wants. And let us receive from him what he wants of us - a broken and contrite heart full of repentance and receiving the forgiveness which he purchased for us. There's the freedom from bondage which is what we really should have wanted in the first place.
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