The Discipline of Desire
W. R. Britton. Psalm 73:25-26 Whom have I in heaven but you? and there is none on earth that I desire beside you.… The disciplining of our desire lays upon us no small or light or fleeting duty. On the contrary, it has to do with the weightier matters of the law. The issues are far-reaching, and the application must be constant. 1. Be watchful of your desire for possession. A man may have a greed for gold without having the gold. A poor man may love money. 2. Be watchful of your desire for pleasure. Be on your guard that it does not take the moral grit out of your soul. Work and play should go hand in hand, and both should be hallowed. 3. Watch your desire for praise. Don't let it tone down the energetic strokes that give strength and value to your virtues. 4. Watch your desire for ease. I suppose it is true that there is a vein of laziness in all of us. We don't want to be bothered; but the world has a right to expect us to evince that we possess will, character, and to evince also that that character is supreme. 5. Watch your desire in reading. Be on your guard against books which make no requirement upon your thinking powers, and take care they do not wound your sympathy. Some persons will weep profusely over pathetic scenes described in books, and have no tears to shed or help to give in the actual needs and griefs of life. 6. Train your desire to make the best of your circumstances. We may not be able to choose our circumstances, but we can use them. Every man is a king or a slave. Don't ask to be "coddled," but let your request be: "Get out of the sunlight; give me opportunities." Be on your guard against wandering desires, refit is these that give emptiness to life. 7. Finally, bring your desires to Christ. Put that desire which is spoiling you into His hands. Let His love cleanse and direct and complete it. There is nothing that will kill an old love like a new love, and higher. Make faith the teacher of desire. (W. R. Britton.) Parallel Verses KJV: Whom have I in heaven but thee? and there is none upon earth that I desire beside thee. WEB: Who do I have in heaven? There is no one on earth who I desire besides you.