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“Sometimes the worst thing for you is to get what you want.”

A thought by Erwin Raphael McManus, (2006-11-14) from his book, Soul Cravings: An Exploration of the Human Spirit (p. 226). Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition.

That is so true for me.  I’m afraid I got what I wanted this weekend and I am feeling it this morning.  My daughter and her family were in this weekend from Las Vegas so there were nine of us in our apartment.  And before church yesterday we all of course had to eat so I brought home two dozen donuts from Winchell’s.  I love donuts.

Now I don’t eat them very often because it is one of the worst things for me to eat.  I can’t just have one so I just have none.  You might say, “But you are an adult and you can have what you want” and that is true.  But I also want, really want to be healthy and live a longer life so I just don’t get all I want.

Now, we are free moral agents.  We have the freedom to do what we want but we are not free from the consequences of our choice.  I chose yesterday to eat a bunch – not one – a bunch of donuts and today I am feeling the aftermath of all that sugar.  My system is sluggish and a little upset, and I have gained a bunch of weight.  So I am a little frustrated at my lack-of-control.  There was a consequence to my free choice.

Of course, this is all simple stuff but it is also something that needs to be reinforced at the beginning of a new week.  We many times have such a hard time getting up and going on a Monday morning because of our lack of self-control on our weekend.  Yes we were free to make the choices but there is a price to be paid on Monday.

Somehow we need to see there are some choices that supersede other choices, like mine of a long healthy life.  We all need to live with good positive priorities that help to motivate us to what we were created to be.  That is why it is important to find your purpose in life, to have goals, to have dreams.  They keep you on tract.  Just getting what you want isn’t a meaningful purpose or goal if it keeps you from what you really want. 

if you don’t know what your life-purpose is maybe your spending some quality time searching would go a long way in finding real meaning for your life.  To find what you really want.

Remember, “Sometimes the worst thing for you is to get what you want.”

So what do you really want?

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