Hosanna Restoration Church

From time to time I find myself in need of a desire check. I do this because I want to make sure where my priorities really lie. My first and greatest desire must always be for God and His Kingdom, so if I have any indication that I may be moving from that spot I want to be sure to get firmly grounded once again. Some may think that this is a no-brainer since I am a pastor, but even if I weren’t I believe the Bible makes it pretty clear that all believers need to have their desires lined up with God at the front of the line. We all have lots of things that fill our lives, but they should never take the place of our desire for God. Rather, we should allow that desire to positively influence every part of our lives.

Before we consider our everyday life we should check our desire for the obvious, which would be times of worship. Of course there are times when we cannot be in our home church or perhaps any church at all but how we feel about it gives us our desire grade. I know that when I was growing up I looked forward to the times when we had something else to do. I had no desire for God, so it stands to reason I would have no desire to go to a place of worship. I know many people who probably see church as the last place they want to be. At the same time there are also many who go to church who would really rather be somewhere else.

Personally, I think if a person would really rather be somewhere else they should just go there. After all, having your body in one place and your heart in another is not going to impress God. If we drag our feet to get there and can’t wait to run out, what have we really accomplished? There may well be times when our attitude needs an adjustment and praise is a sacrifice, but a desire for God will cause us to do what it takes. I can honestly say that I never want to skip church!

If we pass the church test, we can move on to our daily lives. Do we desire to honor God in all we say and do? A relationship with God is not a weekend fling. We need to take inventory on our activities and attitudes and make sure that we are considering God. We all desire His blessings, but do we honor Him in a way that leaves the door open for them to flow.

If you look around, you can find lots of shirts or hats declaring things like, I’d rather be fishing, hunting, or any of a number of other things I won’t mention. I guess I could have one that says, “I’d rather be praising,” because I really do enjoy praising the Lord. The truth is, that people can’t always be fishing or hunting, but I can always be praising! I may not always be able to do it with a song or a shout, but I sure can continually offer praise in one way or another. However, just because that is my hearts desire, it does not mean that I am always doing it. Still, the more I determine to fulfill that desire the greater success I will have.

And so it is in our walk with God. If we will set our desires on God and His Kingdom we will make progress in our walk. A desire check helps us to get honest with ourselves and with God. Then no matter what we do or where we are, we will find ourselves wanting to fulfill our greatest desire of being in His presence. What does your check reveal?