Chapter 3: Man's Desires

Holy Spirit: Jacques, what is it that you think man wants most out of God? 

Jacques: Most out of God? 

Holy Spirit: Yes, most out of God? 

Jacques: I would say peace and security – to know that everything is going to be alright.  I’d say man wants to feel safe and not like he is ever subject to some great unforeseen, or worse, unstoppable calamity.  Man desires that God would keep him free of tyranny or being subject to some unweilding, undesirable force.  In a word, my guess would be “security.” 

Holy Spirit: That’s it? 

Jacques: Well, that may not be a big deal in Heaven, and may even be something You can take for granted up there.  Not so down here. 

Holy Spirit: And why is that?   

Jacques: Unlike Heaven, we live in a world of chaos, instability, fear and need.  “Stuff happens” down here.  It is why so many, especially so many Christians, cannot wait for the trumpet to sound, for Jesus to come, and to be in Heaven.  It’s why so many even long for death. 

Holy Spirit: So you do not believe that man really likes this world and the ways things are going? 

Jacques: I think its relative.  I think what man likes down here is relative to what he knows, or thinks he knows, and what other people around him have or don’t have. 

Holy Spirit: Do you believe man likes life down here? 

Jacques: Some do, I’m sure.  However, I have to believe that those that do like life down here “as is” do so because they are limited to what their physical senses tell them – not because of a true realization, understanding, or appreciation of what Heaven is and how life there compares to life here on Earth.  If all one saw were a swamp and a gated mud hole, one might actually feel happy living in the pigpen.  Probably not the best of analogies I admit, but I hope you get my point.  I think man is happy where he is because he doesn’t know any better.  It’s either that or he has lost touch with the hope or faith that “better than” is a part of his “now” reality. 

Holy Spirit: I see.  So if what man wants most from God is security, then why does he not seek it here on Earth in this life? 

Jacques: I think most do.  I just don’t think many feel it’s within their own strength to keep and maintain it.  This world is dog-eat-dog.  If you get, somebody is always wanting what you have.  In a kinder, gentler world, that might not be such a bad thing since you do kind of want people to admire, or at least think highly of what you have just as you do.  The problem is that far too often, for far too many, such admiration sours into envy, jealousy, and even hatred.  That problem is made worse when you consider just how many folk stand ready and willing to take your stuff, including your wife and kids.  Well, wife and kids aren’t “stuff,” but you know what I mean – things you hold near and dear. 

Holy Spirit: So why not simply make a pact not to take what is not yours, and not to envy?  How else can you enjoy what you have? 

Jacques: People lie.  You can’t trust folk.  To have such a pact would require people to abide by it.  Only then would it achieve the peaceful product you suggest. 

Holy Spirit: So, why not make a pact not to steal, envy or lie? 

Jacques: Sounds an awful lot like the beginning of the Ten Commandments, and they were broken before they made it down the mountain good. 

Holy Spirit: I see, so man prefers and likes this state of anarchy, chaos, and mistrust? 

Jacques: No.  I don’t think so.  I just don’t think man knows any other way.  I don’t think many feel there is a way other than violence and force to keep everyone honest. 

Holy Spirit: Why can’t everyone just have what they want, thereby leaving no need for theft or deceit? 

Jacques: Like I said before, happiness is relative.  Happiness is not static or stagnant.  There seems to be something within man, at least down here that causes him never to be satisfied.  Even when he has, he wants more.  Even when he has more, he wants different.  Even when he has variety, he wants yours.  Anything that produces happiness, man wants it, and he always wants more of it. 

Holy Spirit: Sounds like greed, avarice, or some insatiable yearning or lust. 

Jacques: I don’t think it’s that way in everyone, at least not to the farthest degree.  I do think it applies to everyone, at least to some degree.  That may sound presumptuous, and simply may be untrue.  The fact remains that there are enough such people spread proportionately throughout the world to ensure instability.  After awhile, even reasonable men begin to entertain notions such as “if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em” or one must “fight fire with fire”.   Suddenly, even within a democracy, you are apt to see men use violence, threats, and the taking away of things to try to curb rogue practices of violence, threats and theft. 

Holy Spirit: I see, and man likes it this way? 

Jacques: No.  Certainly no reasonable, thinking, hard working, honest man likes things the way they are, but what’s a man to do?  It all kind of reminds me of the Biblical Samaritan woman at the well who knew things were all messed up to the point of there being no expected change until the Messiah comes.  “When the Messiah comes …” he’ll straighten out this mess.  It does appear that it will take someone valiant enough to subdue all bullies, strong enough to keep everyone honest, and virtuous enough to deal rightly by folk even though they would never be able to overtake him if he chose to be otherwise.   

Holy Spirit: Sounds like the world needs a hero. 

Jacques: Yes.  We need a hero that can dominate the world, establish world order, and reset world systems, concepts and ways.  Yes, I do believe that is exactly what the world needs.  Unfortunately, the only persons found to have yielded that type of power have been men that have been far from virtuous.  It is not like the world has not known peace, but at what cost?  It’s been said “the absence of war is not the presence of peace.” 

Holy Spirit: I see, so the world needs something or someone the likes of which it has not seen and cannot produce? 

Jacques: Exactly – well sorta.  I think it is that very thought that makes Jesus so relevant throughout these past two millenniums.  It was the hope, and expectation that Jesus, the Messiah, would be that very person.  Like the Samaritan woman at the well, Christians are looking for Jesus to come back in power as well as majesty, and basically take care of business: bind up Satan, put down evil, crush systemic tyranny, establish His sovereign reign, and rule in a more “traditional” earthly kind of way.  Then, and only then, is there expected to be a reign of peace and harmony here on Earth as it is in Heaven. 

Holy Spirit: So do you believe that is what Christians desire? 

Jacques: If they think about it.  I say, “If they think about it” because such a desire would entail contrasting what they have seen and experienced in the natural with what hasn’t been, but only prophesied.  To do that takes deliberate, meditative, and active thought.  I also say “if they think about it” because it is so easy, even for mature Christians, to get caught up in this world order such that believers can forget who they are, lose perspective, and fail to remain watchful – no longer believing that his coming is a “now” thing.  After all, Jesus’ disciples, even the apostles, arguably thought he was literally coming back within their lifetimes.  That was over 2000 years ago.  That may not be very long in the grand scheme of things or on the infinite timeline of eternity, but in this life and in the history of man, that is quite a lapse.  Don’t get me wrong.  I understand the Biblical notion of “what is man that You are mindful of him” whose “life is like the grass – here today and gone tomorrow.”  Yet, if this life is all a person knows, or if one’s experiences so outweigh one’s expectations; if you are seemingly incapable or unwilling to weigh all things in the eternal balance having and maintaining a cosmic, eternal perspective of things, then you begin to view life, this life, not as a phase, but as a complete story in and of itself with all other considerations seeming pie-in-the-sky stuff too far off and far fetched in time and distance to touch or bring into this reality. 

Holy Spirit: I see, so what is the answer? 

Jacques: What do You mean? 

Holy Spirit: Well, man’s ignoring of eternal truths will not change them, no more than ignoring part of a mathematical equation will somehow lead to a right answer.  Man’s state and sinful nature will not be excused by Justice simply because man refuses or fails to acknowledge his own crime or the bench.  Justice is, and Justice shall act upon man as it does all creation.  There is no exception. 

Jacques: I see. Well, therein lies the dilemma.  Actually, for some, you might as well be telling them that there are little green men in space.  They simply will not believe.  Others act like they believe, but don’t.  Religion has become to some a social institution and social necessity.  Some are just asleep at the wheel. 

Holy Spirit: None of those things change the facts. 

Jacques: I hear You.  I do.  The question is what to do about it.  Not to be rude, but isn’t it Your job to do the convincing? 

Holy Spirit: It is My job to do the calling – yes.  However, it is your job and those within the body to do the telling.  We all have a job to do. 

Jacques: Touché. You are right.  I stand corrected. So …

Holy Spirit & Jacques:  Now what? 

Jacques: I think I asked first. 

Holy Spirit: You tell them.  I call and convince them.  Some will hear you.  Some won’t.  But you tell them, and you tell them all. 

Jacques: Everyone? 

Holy Spirit: Everyone on the planet, and anyone that has gotten off. 

Jacques: Ok, but how?  How do You want me to do that exactly? 

Holy Spirit: Tell them the tale of Moses and Jethro.  Divide up the work.  Solicit workers.  Methodically divvy up the work and do the task. 

Jacques: Ok, you know I wrote up that prophetic word.  You know the one where I’m to follow Moses‘ father-in-law Jethro‘s example breaking up the evangelistic work of comprehensively spreading the Good News to all the world into manageable units while delegating the duties amongst many workers versus one.  Street by street, block by block, city by city, and nation by nation you‘d go.  It seemed so logical and doable.  I even tried to give it legs, but I haven’t gotten much traction with it.  I don’t seem quite up to the task.  I just don’t seem to be the man for the job.  I’m not saying I’m not willing, that You aren’t with me, or that anything is too big for God.  Nothing is impossible for God – I am aware of that. I do remember Jesus telling Peter to go back out into the sea to recast his net, and what all happened there.  I guess I’m being a bit like Peter and saying, “Master, you know we’ve been out fishing all night and caught nothing.”  Yet, like Peter, I’m saying too, “but if you say go back out and cast my nets in previously barren waters, then I will do it.”  I do believe in You.  You have made a believer out of me – I’m just saying.  

Holy Spirit: And I am saying to you Peter Barjouna, go back out and cast out your net.  See if I will not bring to you a harvest your boat can hardly handle. 

Jacques: Yes sir – just tell me the particulars: who, what, when, where, and how.  You got it.  I shall be obedient. 

Holy Spirit: You have been obedient, and I know you are sore.  Come again tomorrow, and I will tell you more.  Get up early and meet me here.  Enjoy your bountiful blessings.  Your prayers have been answered for you.  Enjoy the night. 

Jacques: Thank you Holy Spirit.  I do love and thank You.