You Want It,  and You Can Have it, But . . . 

 . . .  it won’t be what you expect it to be.  

A young man wants a car. Okay.  He sees himself orbiting his high school three times to make sure everyone knows he has wheels. He imagines the new respect he will get from the girls – having his own car will move him ahead socially. He commits – a chariot is soon sitting in his parents’ drive way.  

But eight weeks into his proud ownership, he needs new tires. Six weeks later, the insurance bill comes. Because he is 17 years old, insurance is high.  So he drops out of sports – he lettered in two sports — to get an afternoon job.  He misses his basketball buddies.  His football friends.  The thrill of wheels fades. The girls are not as impressed as he thinks they should be.  The vehicle – which is moving toward the rust cycle (which explains why he got such a good deal on it) develops further old age quirks.    

What happens when people get things out of order?  What happens when people reach for the goodies without considering the experience of others (his Dad told him the burdens of ownership)?  Yes, it was nice to have transportation but the shine was diminished and there had definitely been some education at The University of Life. 

A young man and a young lady are drawn to each other. They are mad about each other.  Can’t get their fill of each other.  They are eager for bedroom privileges. 

Suppose this couple reaches for each other before they formally take on responsibility for each other in marriage.  Want the goodies now, but put off the responsibility until later.  More than one couple have indulged and then parted.  Sex takes them seriously even if they do not take it seriously.  It is a one-way street; impossible to reverse.  Things do not look so fantastic eight weeks later when the rent comes due and there’s a stack of dishes in the sink.

The enjoyable things come with corresponding responsibility and work. God says, “You can have it, but (1) it may not be what you expect it to be” and 
(2) “Get things out of order and it will bite you.”  Maybe not immediately, but God is not mocked – what we sow, we reap. Galatians 6:7 & 8 says so.  

How different the attitude of the Lord Jesus Christ.  He paid for a bride – He died to purchase her freedom — the church universal, meaning all who have genuinely responded in faith to the Lord Jesus Christ – but 2000 year later, He still has not received what He paid for.  While the credit card industry is based on human impatience, Jesus Christ paid for His Bride, but still has not received her.   

God uses our desires to make us grow up and accept responsibility. If people resist the responsibility as they reach for the goodies, civilization breaks down. That has been happening in America for the last half-century.