How To Keep From Being Burned By Desire

One night on my back deck I watched a moth, fixated by the light from a tiki torch fly towards the flame repeatedly until it burned itself to death. It was a sobering reminder of the consequence of my wrong addictions. For much of my life, I allowed this world to captivate me and work its destruction in my heart and mind. I allowed advertising and entertainment to lure me into the fire of dissatisfaction, disappointment, and self-destructive addictions. 

When we live captivated by the promises of the world, we can’t EVER get enough—and just like that suicidal moth—we eventually burn ourselves out.

Unfortunately, I had to be very badly burned before I was ready to let God heal me. When I returned to Him and sought Him with all of my heart, His presence was so satisfying that I never want to go back to the pursuit of lesser things. When I cried out to Him, He pulled me back into His arms and—I don’t ever want to leave. God’s presence is sweeter than any of the alluring and oh-so-fleeting pleasures of sin. 

A passionate desire for God is our only healthy addiction!

But to stay close to God, we need to be wise to the ways of our three enemies. They often masquerade as purveyors of God’s goodness. Darkness lurks, waiting for the opportunity to find our weakness, to claw at our scars, to accuse us, and lure us back to false promises.

In order to recognize FALSE promises—we need to be well-grounded in TRUTH.

We must be able to step back from what captivates us and hold it up next to the reality of God’s Word. For example, if we tend to be consumed by attaining unrealistic physical perfection because we’ve seen the airbrushed models in Victoria’s Secret or the ripped guys in Men’s Fitness, we need to strengthen our true identity, that is, that we are “created in God’s image,” and “for His glory.” God created this world and the things we enjoy—just like the tiki torch—however, they become destructive when we pursue them more passionately than we pursue God. 

God’s presence gives us balance and peace. 

God reveals our pure and unique beauty that never fades. God’s promises are not based on inflated facts or false expectations. The Bible teaches us this critical truth:

“Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world. And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever.”‭‭‬

I John‬ ‭2‬:‭15‬-‭17

When we seek God first, He satisfies our eternal desires. (Matthew 6:33)‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬

We would love to hear your thoughts about this devotional. Did God speak to you or challenge your daily walk with him? Or is there a topic that you would like Kimberly to cover or expound on? Please share with us in the comments below.

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