God’s greatest desires for us

God’s greatest desires for us

If one removes all preconceived notions of Christianity, all religious traditions, all ordinances, and all rituals, the essence of one's faith would be reduced to what God truly desires from us; to believe in Him, and to learn of Him. How can we know this? Well, the Word of God tells us,

1Ti 2:4  Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.

The bare essential of this scripture is like two other passages where God reveals the simplicity of His love and desire for us.

In Isa 1:11-14, God expresses that He is not interested in sacrifices of animals or blood offerings. He questions why the people feel the need to worship Him in this way and states that these ceremonies hold no meaning for Him. Additionally, God expresses His dislike for assemblies, festivals, and holidays, finding them burdensome and tiresome. All God wanted is the hearts of His people to believe in Him, turn from their evil ways, find His heart, and love Him.

Similarly, in Mark 7:6-13, Jesus rebuked the Pharisees and Scribes for holding their traditions in greater regard than worshipping God and doing what He said. Paraphrasing, Jesus said "You are hypocrites. You pretend to honour God with your words, but your hearts are far from Him. You follow human traditions instead of God's commands. You ignore God's word and make it of no effect by replacing it with your own rules.” It is easy to sense the heart of Jesus here; how He wanted them to know God’s love for them and that God simply wanted their heart and not their habits.

It is God’s heart and will that we get saved. He does not desire that any one of us are lost and exposed to His righteous wrath. Furthermore, He desires of us to learn of Him, to come to a knowledge of the truth, to understand His ways and will. All of this is presented to us in His written Word. Through His Word we have access to all that God would want us to know of Him. If we would read His Word and simply do what it says, without tainting it or adding our suppositions to it, but receiving its instruction in humility, would the result not be unity in the simplicity of service and love.

God’s desire is never that we would have a complicated relationship with Him. Love is not complicated, it is not by the letter, it is not mechanical and repetitive. God’s heart is to dwell with us and show us His Fatherhood. This comes, not by external worship and repeating works, as Israel and the Scribes and Pharisees did, but by intimacy; by knowing Him and becoming like Him in thought and deed as we allow the knowledge of His Word to flourish within us.