A few years ago my Mom and I were discussing whether people are desperate for God or not. The conversation likely came from listening to the song This is the Air I Breathe. The line in the song I am discussing says:
And I'm desperate for you
And I'm lost without you...
I'm not sure I can usually sing those lines and mean it fully. Do people need God? I would say yes for sure...however in North America we seem to have our needs met..and so why God? We may not be desperate to rely on God for food or water or shelter...but we had better realize we need to be desperate for more of Him. We ARE lost without Him. What is the point of life without Him?
I would argue most of us are not desperate for God. Would you disagree with me? Let me put it this way...somebody who is walking on a frozen lake and falls in and is swept under the ice....they are desperate to get out from under the ice and to get to a spot where they can get out. They actually are desperate for air. What does this desperation look like? It looks like the person doing whatever they can to save their life. This may mean trying to smash open the ice, or swimming to an opening in the ice to get out. I don't know for sure...but I assume most people who fall in wouldn't just decide "oh well, I guess I'm going to die." but would do everything they can to save their life before they die. Desperate.
Are you catching the picture? Maybe you think we don't need to be desperate. Maybe being a comfortable Christian is enough. I think this Psalmist got it right...check this out:
Psalm 79:8
Do not hold against us the sins of past generations; may your mercy come quickly to meet us, for we are in desperate need.
What is it about us not being desperate? Is it because we don't have to really rely on God for our daily needs? I'm not going to starve anytime soon....I may need groceries but I likely have food for a few days still. Not desperate. But what about spiritually? What has the church done wrong in teaching us that we don't have to be desperate? Do we even need to be desperate? I would argue yes...but I would love to hear what other people have to say. Why are we okay with being comfortable when the Bible says we shouldn't be??
Thoughts?
