3 Highest Desires Above All Other Desires

Do you have a burning desire that compels you to get up in the morning? Even when things are at their bleakest, do you have something that drives you to plead with God to help you live another day?

I do. And I’ve needed it, because my life is not easy and I’ve dealt with a lot of discouragement. (Still do, from time to time.) And I wanted to share from my heart what my highest desire is–that thing I believe God uses to keep me alive, even when I despair (as the apostle Paul did) even of life.

I’ll share the first two highest desires with you first, because they are a vital part of the explanation.

But, the desire I really want to talk to you about is the third desire. And when you put all three of them together, it kind of still makes up one highest desire that surpasses all other desires.

So first, the first and second desires of my life–desires that form the backdrop for the third:

My highest desire that surpasses all other desires is just to know God. And just to know Him means we must love Him, because once we see Him we will love Him.

And when we know Him and love Him, we will then naturally have only one other biggest desire that outweighs all other desires but the first two.

And that desire that outweighs all other desires except for the first two is simply this:

To be faithful to Him.

O friend. I want to be faithful to God.

I love Him so much that I want to serve Him. I want to serve Him like He served me. (And yes, He did serve us; He gave His only begotten Son to die on a cross for me and for you, and that is service of the highest order. That is the highest act of service that has ever been accomplished on the earth.)

I want to be faithful to Him.

When I can’t see the light, I want to be faithful to Him.

When I can’t find my way, I want to be faithful to Him.

When I’m hurting so bad I feel nothing but broken, I want to be faithful to Him.

And I want to finish the work He has given me to do.

This passage from John 17:4 resounds in my spirit:

“I have glorified You on the earth. I have finished the work which You have given Me to do” (John 17:4 NKJV).

This is part of the prayer that Jesus prayed to the Father right before He went to the cross. He was begging the Father to restore Him to glory in Heaven. And His heartfelt prayer was, “I have finished the work which You have given Me to do.”

O friend, sometimes I despair of life on this earth.

Sometimes things feel so bleak, so sad, so dismal, that I despair even of life. As the apostle Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians:

That is how I feel … quite a bit, actually. But even when I can’t see any visible signs of hope or life or light, I still know this one thing:

Jesus is worthy, and I want to be faithful.

Jesus. Son of God and Son of Man. Very God of very God, born of a virgin, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons.

Jesus, Man of Sorrows and acquainted with grief. Jesus, Who bore our sins in His Own body on the tree. Jesus, Who became a curse for us, so that we could be redeemed from the curse.

Jesus, the Source of life eternal. The Wellspring and Fountain of Life. The Living Water, the Bread of Life, the Good Shepherd. Jesus, at Whose very name the angels cry holy.

First and foremost, above all that is in Heaven or on earth, I want to know God and love Him, and then to be faithful to Jesus.

I want to be faithful.

I want to hear Him say to me, “Well done, good and faithful servant.”

And even when this life is at its bleakest …

Even when I can’t see or hear or smell the light …

… Even when I don’t know how I’m going to get through another day without collapsing in tears …

I want to be faithful to Jesus.

Don’t you?

O my beloved friend, He is worthy. Don’t you want to be faithful to Him, no matter what?

Don’t you want to hear Him tell you, “Well done!”? Don’t you want to be able to say the words He prescribed for us in Luke 17:10:

“So likewise you, when you have done all those things which you are commanded, say, ‘We are unprofitable servants. We have done what was our duty to do’” (Luke 17:10 NKJV).

I know I do.

I yearn to be faithful.

When I can’t see the light of day; when I don’t know which end is up; when I feel persecuted and hurt and pressed from every side …

… this is what keeps me going in the morning, at noon, at night.

I want to be faithful.

Don’t you?

If so, won’t you make that your prayer, your goal, your dream whether sleeping or waking?

Just this: “Lord, help me be faithful to you.”

Just this single desire: “Lord, help me to finish the work You have given me to do.”

Just these three highest aims:

1. To know God;
2. To love Him; and
3. To be faithful to Him.

These three aims are the work of a lifetime. But they are a work worth living for, because CHRIST is a God–the only God–worth living for.

Do you want to be faithful to God? Will you join me in praying for Him to help you be faithful to Him, no matter what? If so, leave a comment below!