What I want I cannot have.
Much of what I have I do not want.
What I do not want is continuously placed before me.
What I do not have is what I seek for.
Those items that we desire that we cannot have can be seen both in the Spiritual and physical realm, the flesh of course with its almost insatiable wants, but the mind of Christ within us that wants to be more profitable for His glory. “For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.” (Romans 12:3)
That which we have that we do not want can also be revealed simply by looking at our old sinful nature, to each his own would be a fitting analogy here, for my fleshly desires may or may not be as yours that still plague you, but those items we have that we do not want can be seen much clearer in our service to the Lord, the frustrations that arrive with being rebuked by the wicked while searching for the lost. “If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you.” (John 15:18)
That which we do not want that is placed before us are the temptations of our adversary but can also be seen in the truth of Jeremiah’s words, “I will not make mention of him, nor speak any more in his name. But his word was in mine heart as a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I was weary with forbearing, and I could not stay.” (Jer. 20:9)
And lastly, and perhaps most important of these four short poor analogies in this letter to you, that which we do not yet possess is what we seek for. Here again the flesh becomes our enemy, for it desires only that which the world can provide, and its incessant searching knows no satisfaction of its appetite. But the mind in us that seeks the face of God, that desires to say with Paul through the Holy Spirit, “For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified.” (1st Cor. 2:2) understands by the blessing of the Almighty what is worthy and honorable to desire above all else.
What you have and what you want, can you differentiate between the two? Can you see what is waiting for you in the Kingdom of our Father, and does that cause you, albeit with great personal effort at times, to deny those wants of the flesh, to look around you at what you have already accumulated in the world and see it as inconsequential? Does seeking the face of God daily bring more joy to your heart than the imaginations of worldly and fleshly desires?
“For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.” (Matt. 6:21)
A line from an old movie for you, “We covet that which we see each day,” and my friends, you do not need to see with your eyes in this regard, you have been with your flesh, so to speak, long enough to know exactly what it wants, and I would presume you understand the truth of Romans 7:18, “For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not.”
“Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption.” (1st Cor. 15:50)
The mind that serves Christ abhors the flesh, the flesh denies all that is of God, it wants constantly that which we despise, and it will attempt to gain all that it can until your dying breath.
“O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?” (Romans 7:24)
The Lord Jesus Christ will, but not fully in this life, for in battle is where we are best tested.
The wicked have given in to temptation, we will not, though we may fall at times, take great comfort in this truth,
“For a just man falleth seven times, and riseth up again: (Prov. 24:16a)
