A thought by Mark Batterson (2014-09-02) from his
book, The Grave Robber: How Jesus Can Make Your Impossible Possible (p. 113). Baker Publishing Group. Kindle
Edition. (Click on the title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.)
But the problem is, we really don’t want to. Oh we may wish to but want to is a different
thing.
But the problem is, we really don’t want to. Oh we may wish to but want to is a different
thing.
Mark says, “No matter what goal you’re trying to
achieve or problem you’re trying to solve, you have to want it more than the
pain that will be inflicted upon you in the process of trying to attain it.
That’s where nine out of ten of us fall short, according to Dr. Edward Miller,
the thirteenth dean of the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. More
than one and a half million Americans undergo a coronary bypass graft every
year. And while angioplasty effectively relieves many of the symptoms of
clogged arteries, it’s a temporary fix. Without a change in eating and exercise
habits, the health benefits are short-lived. And patients are told that point-blank.
Yet, Dr. Miller notes, ‘If you look at people after coronary-artery bypass
graft two years later, 90 percent of them have not changed their lifestyle.’ I daresay every single one of them wants to
live, but not enough to change. If the numbers are right, nine out of ten
people would rather die than change!”
Jesus understood this when He asked the question
in John 5: 6, “Do you want to get well?”
Someone would come to Jesus and want to be healed but there was a part
that each one of them had to play. He
wanted to see if they really wanted it.
What do you really want and how willing are you
to do what needs to be done to get it? Oh we wish for a relationship with Christ
and all the benefits of that relationship but we don’t want to do the things to
cultivate that relationship. Oh we wish
to be healthy but we don’t want to eat right or exercise or get our rest. Oh we wish to have a strong marriage but we
don’t want to spend the time with our partner and do those things that make the
relationship stronger and think about them and their needs before even our own.
So many things we say we want but are unwilling
to do what it takes to make them happen.
We just wish to have them without a lot of effort.
I love Mark’s definition of want. He says that want is, “the sanctified desire
and matching discipline to do what needs to be done, no matter how hard it is
or how long it takes.”
So what want are you willing to do whatever it
takes to get?
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