The Holy Longing
If we gave special consideration to the people in each one of those stages, the teachings of the Sermon on the Mount or the Epistles would not change.
Season 5, Episode 15 · The Holy Longing
Play the original Excel Still More episode here without leaving the article.
The story behind the idea
You continue to change in multiple ways going into the final stages of life and then death. If we gave special consideration to the people in each one of those stages, the teachings of the Sermon on the Mount or the Epistles would not change.
What stands out
In our younger years, essential discipleship is trying to navigate how our lives are going to come together, particularly and hopefully in the name of Jesus while it's being constructed. In the years where I consider myself in my mid-40s, I'm working on mature discipleship where my life has pretty much come together. The struggle is can I develop a heart that starts to give that life away?
Why it matters
Because we get married so late, the challenge is even greater, maybe, than it's ever been before. Those things change a little bit with age, but those who are older than you need to remember what it was like to be you. We want our longings to be held captive to that which is holy.
A faithful way forward
We have some level of fulfillment, but you're filled with yearning to have your own person and family and home and life. Many young people want to skip all of the steps to get there or pursue very cheap and ungodly offerings. Sometimes a reason for that is a desire that is in you that God put in you that's good.
Put it into practice
There is an incredible focus, Old Testament and New, on being able to notice the people around you who are poor and destitute and oppressed, who do not have it like you have it, and for you to feel compassion for them. Do not get so caught up in yourself and what you're navigating that you miss the people that God weaves into your life for you to care about. Jesus is challenging you even now to see those people and to use your gifts and skills to focus on someone other than yourself and to help them.
Take the idea with you.
- 01What idea from this study most needs my attention right now?
- 02Where does this challenge the way I am currently thinking or living?
- 03What is one faithful step I can take this week?
Prefer listening?
The original episode player is available near the top of this article, so you can listen without leaving the page.