I want the world...I want the whole world

Don't all of us have a compass that shows us what we want? And isn't it "broken" for most people?

It's hard, this business of wanting things. It's hard placing it into context. It's one thing to know what you want, and another thing to know if the thing/place/person that you want is a good thing/place/person for you to want, or when the want passes into obsession.

I want God. I want to be closer to God. You know the most comforting thing about such a want? It can't possibly be wrong. There is absolutely no uncertainty, absolutely no way that I can pour my heart into God and then find out that I made the wrong choice, absolutely no way I can decide that it's best and safer if I don't pour my heart into God. Although it probably would be safer. He isn't tame, after all.

One of the annoying things about God is how much He loves us, because He loves us too much to let us settle for safe. He wants us to glorify Him with our whole beings, which means living life fully for Him, taking risks for Him.

Once there was a master who was going away on a journey. Before he left, he called his three servants and gave them each a large quantity of money--$500,000 to the first, $300,000 to the second, and $100,000 to the third. "Take care of this," he said. "Use it wisely." The first servant invested in real estate. The second servant invested in livestock. The third servant sat down with the money in front of him and was afraid. He was no investor. What if he made the wrong choices? What if he lost all of it? So the third servant bought a safe with his own money, and he put the master's money in the safe and locked it up in a secure room. Day and night he kept guard over the room, jumping at all who came near the entrance. When the master returned, he called his servants to him and asked them to report on what they had done in his absence. The third servant's heart sank as he heard that the other two servants had doubled the master's money, but he remained confident of his inability to do the same. When the master asked him about the $100,000, the servant said, "As you know, I'm no investor. But I kept it safe for you. And I protected it with my own money, and my own time. Here it is." The master was angry. "No investor?" he said. "Do you think I am such a poor judge? Do you think I gave you more than you could handle? Do you think you have any money or time that doesn't already belong to me?" He took the money from the third servant and gave it to the first servant. The third servant was thrown into the streets, jobless and penniless.

It's a scary story.