“A desire realized is sweet to the soul,
but to turn away from evil is an abomination to fools.” NRSV
Do you ever fight with the Lord? I do. And yes, I know how foolish that is, but often my heart is foolish, rather than wise. There are some things I cling to so tightly even knowing that they aren’t good for me. But oh, how sweet sin tastes . . . for the moment.
It’s so interesting that the writer of Proverbs places desire and evil in juxtaposition like he does in this passage. All of us know that moment of wonder, of excitement when we finally get that thing we’ve so desired. I think about Christmas as a child. Our parents always let us choose one “big” gift which would be left unwrapped on the fireplace hearth by “Santa.” That gift was the one thing we really wanted that year. Of course, because we were rather poor, our “big” gifts wouldn’t compare to what children often get these days, but to my sister and I, the gifts were unparalleled. I still remember one, a certain baby day (it was the last doll I would receive as a child). I loved that doll for many years and what a joy it was to find it sitting on the hearth under my stocking.
“A desire realized is sweet to the soul.” There is an almost physical response when we finally get that thing, achieve that goal. As Christians, however, the focus of our desires needs to change. Our desire should be toward God, not toward things of this world which have such a fleeting value.
The problem with desires of this world is that the joy in achieving them fades, often very quickly. The object of our desire ages, fades, even disappears. (To this day, I have no idea what happened to that “special” doll.) And so, the writer of this passage couples desire with evil. If we, as Christians, desire evil then we won’t want to turn away from it. We want what we want when we want it. We are reluctant to even consider the possibility that we should release that desire. Yes, even when what we want is evil. And refusing to turn away from evil makes us fools.
Yup! That’s the crux of it.
The psalmist also wrote about this topic: “Take delight in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart” (Psalm 37:4 NRSV). This verse has often been used wrongly, to say that God wants us to have the lusts of our flesh, the earthly desires of our heart. Wrong. God wants us to want HIM above all other things. And when our delight, our desire, is in Him, then He gives us that desire by giving us Himself in the form of His Spirit. “From there you will seek the Lord your God, and you will find him if you search after him with all your heart and soul” (Deuteronomy 4:29).
When we are fools, our desires turn to things of the flesh, seeking the temporary high that we get from having things of this world (possessions, fame, power, money, control). When we are wise, our desires turn toward things of the Spirit, seeking God and the wisdom that comes from obedience to Him. We need to have enough courage and see ourselves for who we truly are. Are we fools or are we brave enough to trust the Lord and become wise?
© 2008 Robin L. O’Hare. All Rights Reserved. International copyright reserved. This study may be copied for nonprofit and/or church purposes only without permission when copied in its entirety (including this notice).
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