Goal Setting

“Behold, I have found only this, that God made men upright, but they have sought out many devices.”   Ecclesiastes 7:29

Sought Out – Solomon, the wise, discovers something absolutely hideous.  God made men upright (yashar – straight, right).  God designed men to have a perfect relationship with Him.  He created men in His image, completely equipped to become fully human in conversation with the Creator.  But something went terribly wrong, not because of a design flaw but because men sought out the wrong object of desire.  This is the same verb we found in, “Seek My face.”  This verse tells me that I am just as capable of seeking God, with the same intensity and commitment, as I am of seeking something that destroys my relationship with God.  The effort, drive, rush and desire all feel the same, but one leads to a fulfillment of the design and the other leads to the scrap heap.

Did you realize that the intellectual, emotional and volitional process that led Eve to take the forbidden fruit is exactly the same process that should have led Eve to embrace her role as ‘ezer?  Life does not consist of two separate and incommensurable methods of operation.  Life consists of two separate and incommensurable goals achieved by the same method of operation.  That’s why sin seems so easy.  It uses the same design circuitry.  It just chooses the wrong direction.

You could seek God with as much emotion, dedication and jubilation as you put into your favorite team or your most enjoyable sport or your most satisfying hobby or your greatest passion.  The methodology is exactly the same.  You could cry over losing even the smallest contest.  You could feel the rush over the split-second victory.  You could know every statistic on every follower.  You could know the team history.  You could vacation at God’s great places and be thrilled when He drafts a new addition.  You could feel the exhaustion of satisfied fulfillment or weep over agonizing defeat.  You could spend hours gazing over the things of God that are part of your collected memories.  God could be your deepest passion.

But in all likelihood, He is not.  You and I might be fanatics for football, but we are not likely to be fanatical about God.  We have taken what God built into us, designed for Him, and sought out other objects of desire.  Too late, we learn that the design is perfected in only one direction.

Are you God’s greatest fan?  How would I know?