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Cravings
“Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.”
Psalm 37:4
Have you ever noticed that the more you have of something, the more you crave it?
I have a sweet tooth and noticed that the more sweets I eat every day, the more I crave them! Likewise, the more time I spend scrolling on my phone, the more I feel inclined to keep on scrolling. And the more I watch episode after episode of a TV show, the more I feel inclined to keep on watching.
There is a physics term for this called inertia: the tendency to keep on doing the same thing. If an object is in motion, it will tend to stay in motion. If an object is at rest, it will tend to stay at rest. It’s true for us — we are creatures of habit!
And this inertia can encourage us to continue in bad habits just as much as good habits. So, if I choose to get up and go to the gym to exercise and do this every day (or most days) for a few months — then I can create a new habit that improves my health. But I think that this doesn’t work just by sheer willpower. I think it is successful because our desires and our enjoyment actually change too! If I successfully go to the gym consistently for 10 weeks, by the end of it, I end up usually looking forward to going … even if I hated going to begin with.
The same is true of sin and righteousness. The more we engage in a sinful behavior or thought pattern, the more likely we are to be comfortable with it, rationalize it and, yes, even enjoy it!
Conversely, we can choose to fight that area of temptation and sin with the aid of the Holy Spirit. At first, it is very difficult! Our flesh, the devices and desires of our “old self” apart from Christ, delights in sin. That’s why resisting the sin is called a fight. But the more we choose to ignore the temptation and choose righteousness instead, the more we will find that we enjoy what is good. And the temptation becomes weaker day by day.
So, it is true what Psalm 16:11 says:
“In your presence there is fullness of joy;
At your right hand are pleasures forevermore.”
Lord Jesus, may Your Spirit reveal to us the ways we take pleasure in the desires of the flesh, those desires that lead us away from You. Help us to recognize and turn away from those things. Increase in us a delight in You and the desire to follow Your ways. Give us the will and the strength to pursue righteousness, knowing that the devil will flee when we resist him and that you will be faithful to complete the work you began at our baptism. In your name we pray, Amen.
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