Have you come that way? Have you seen what you need from God – forgiveness and life? We have heard people say that the way to be converted is just pray: ‘Lord, I admit it I am a sinner. I need a Saviour, Jesus Christ. I will believe in him.’ It is all so easy, and there are no tears, and no grief, and no sense of guilt. But there must be. Do not come to him saying I would like to be saved, but I want to stay with this world. There is that battle in us all, but you have got to resolve it. ‘I would like to be saved, but if only I did not have to give up this and give up that, the sinful things, the wrong things.’ No, you have got to really desire him, to be changed by him, to be assured of salvation, to be able to pray to him knowing that he is there and he is for me, to be accepted by him and blessed by him. There are some who do not desire enough. They say, ‘I try to repent. I meant it I am sure, but nothing happens.’ Maybe because you have never desired the Lord, you did not long for him. If you long for something enough you will move mountains to obtain it. You will not rest until you have got it.
Oh, to be sanctified, to make progress, to be a better person, to be a deeper person; to have righteousness in my relational conduct! How do I behave towards others? What do I exhibit? Bad temper, indifference, or selfishness? What is my conversation, what are my words like? There is a relational aspect to this.
Then there is my inner life to consider. Not just what people see, not just how I behave towards others, but what is my mind like? What is my emotional system like? My inner life. Am I for God? Do I think much of him? Do I praise him and worship him and learn of him with sincerity? Do I go through long periods of moodiness and make little effort to snap out of them? What things occupy my mind and my day dreams? Are they for myself, all about foolish pride? How pure am I within?
A third aspect to how I live is my service for the Lord. Some people are very concerned as Christians about their relational life and about their inner life, but they are not at all concerned about what they do for the Lord, whether their lives count, or whether they witness. But we are to hunger and thirst after righteousness at all levels. By prayer, by daily repentance and concern, by mortifying the deeds of the body, by active obedience to the rules of the Scripture.
Hunger and thirst, says the Lord. This is wonderful language. ‘Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness.’ This is serious. I cannot just do these things. I must desire to do them first. This is the beginning of advance. We think about it, we desire it. We make sure, first of all, that advance is what we really want, and we pray that the Lord will take us forward and we shall improve. ‘I would like to overcome whatever is my besetting sin’ – perhaps your temper, perhaps your inclination to selfishness, perhaps your tendency to unkindness. I am going to rein it in, I am going to pray, I am going to ask the help of God. I am going to talk to people more and befriend people more, and look after the newcomers in the church, and speak to people at my place of business or study.
Do not hunger for pride and fame, for being noticed, or for wealth and possessions, constantly wanting more; nor for the home, over-doing everything. For some people, this hunger comes out in the desire to dominate, to be the boss, to win every argument, or to be independent from any kind of control or advice. There are some people who must do their own thing. They cannot even listen to the Scripture, and yet they say they are Christians. Sanctify your hunger. Apply it most of all to the campaign for greater personal righteousness and obedience. Have you ever wondered why sometimes it is so hard to get yourself down to personal devotions and the word of God? It because we have allowed our hunger to run after other things. Desire advance in righteousness and it will eclipse much wrong desire.