What Do You Want?

“What do you want? Ask and I will give it to you!” 1 Kings 3:5

Imagine if God, the giver of every good thing, asked us this! What would we ask? Many will ask for riches, power, fame, beauty, healing, intelligence, etc. Will we ever think of asking God for a wise and understanding mind? Will we ever plead for a compassionate heart full of love for God’s people? 

God was well pleased with Solomon, King David’s son, who wanted wisdom so he could govern God’s people well. “I will give you what you asked for,” God answered him, “I will also give you what you did not ask for- riches and honor... and if you follow and obey my commands, I will give you long life.” 

Many people are blessed with riches, power, fame and beauty. If they do not follow and obey God’s ways, they often find that life is meaningless. Oscar Wilde once said, “I can resist anything except temptation.” He lived up to his name and lived wildly and flamboyantly in fashionable circles. Wilde believed pleasure and beauty would replace utilitarian ethics. After living a profligate life with both women and men, he spent a brutal two years in prison. 

In prison, Wilde read the Bible, and in one of his letters, he wrote, “I wanted to eat of the fruit of all the trees in the garden of the world... And so, indeed, I went out, and so I lived. My only mistake was that I confined myself so exclusively to the trees of what seemed to me the sun-lit side of the garden, and shunned the other side for its shadow and its gloom.” 

After he was released from prison, he wrote to the Jesuits, asking for a 6-month Catholic retreat. Sadly, Wilde was denied this request and he wept. 

Before he died of meningitis, he pleaded with his companion to get a Catholic priest to say the last rites for him. 

What a sad life for a promising and talented young man! If only he used his gifts to give His creator glory! The pursuit of pleasure is a modern day addiction too. Sugar consumption, mobile phone use, lack of sleep, pornography, drug use are all up, and so is depression and suicide. Most of the time, the more pleasure we seek, the more unhappy we become, and the more addicted. Lord, may we not be caught up in the pursuit of the pleasures of this world. May we turn to You in prayer and ask for Your gifts and fruits! 

http://patsypat.blogspot.com