Desiring God

(picture)

I recently began re-reading 'Desiring God' by John Piper. I use the word re-reading lightly. I first tried to read this book my freshman year of college. For some reason, I just think at that point in my life I couldn't fully grasp the book. I'm not one to start a book and not finish it, but as far as I remember, I only made it a few chapters. I recently saw that it was the book's 25th anniversary so I decided to give it another try. I'm learning a lot and I feel like the Lord is using the book to speak to me during a really important time in my life with a lot of big decisions. One of the most important questions he poses in the book is, "Is Christ your treasure?" He reminds us that we should "count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord." (phil 3:8)

Something that John Piper talks about that I've been thinking about a lot lately is how coming to Christ is such a miracle. We are wicked and sinful people. Our hearts are hardened and selfish. God literally takes our heart and makes it new. "And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statues and be careful to obey my rules." (ezekiel 36:26-27) The way my heart changed when I came to know the Lord had nothing to do with me. And everything to do with Him. "By grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God." (eph. 2:8) I've heard this verse a thousand times, but it's something that has just hit me again lately. I am humbled by the fact that His grace alone is sufficient.

Here are some of my favorite quotes so far:

"We will never fully appreciate what a deep and awesome thing conversion is until we own up to the fact that it is a miracle."

"When delighting in God is the work of our lives, there will be an inner strength for ministries of love to the very end."

"I know of no other way to triumph over sin long-term than to gain a distaste for it because of a superior satisfaction in God."

"The first thing we learn is that worship has to do with real life. It is not a mythical interlude in a week of reality."

"The quickest way to the heart is through a wound."

Let us know Him more and love Him better.