In his sermon, titled, The Weight of Glory C. S. Lewis writes:
If there lurks in most modern minds the notion that to desire our own good and earnestly hope for the enjoyment of it is a bad thing, I submit that this notion…is no part of the Christian faith. Indeed, if we consider the unblushing promises of reward and the staggering nature of the rewards promised in the Gospels, it would seem that Our Lord finds our desires, not too strong, but too weak. We are halfhearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.[1]
Although God’s love is enough to make us righteous, one wonders whether or not we can truly reflect God’s love if our desires are too weak. If we desire that which is lawless then we sell ourselves short and our desires are less than what they could be according to God’s promise. God offers us, as children of God, the opportunity to hope for rewards that are greater than any desires we could imagine. Those rewards are not new cars or fancy clothes, they are not even necessarily rewards that we will experience in this lifetime, but they are rewards that will last for an eternity. When we desire to know God for eternity and to live with God, we desire our own good, and that desire is not a bad thing. It is a strong desire that helps to shape us as children of God.
The picture at the beginning of this post is of my son, Laine, minutes after his birth. At that moment he was completely helpless and at that moment I also felt completely helpless; however, only one of us would be classified a child. In God’s eyes we both are children. John writes that “what we will be has not yet been revealed,” and although we may feel we know God’s purpose for our lives (and Lord knows you may be spot on) we are no different from the helpless infant. Our understanding of God’s plan for our lives is always changing and growing. As God’s children each day is a new birth, each day we have the ability to refocus our lives and desire all that is good. Through God we are offered a holiday and we are offered the opportunity to step outside of our comfort zones. May we be stretched each and every day. May we imagine a reality where we desire all that is good and all that is enjoyable. May we desire the infinite joy that comes from being children of God.
[1] C. S. Lewis, The Weight of Glory. Essay Collection: Faith, Christianity and the Church, ed. Lesley Walmsley (Harper Collins: Hammersmith, London, 2000) 96.
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