{"id":23192,"date":"2016-02-28T16:30:38","date_gmt":"2016-02-28T22:30:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.markmallett.com\/blog\/?p=23192"},"modified":"2017-04-27T19:28:06","modified_gmt":"2017-04-27T23:28:06","slug":"of-desire","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.markmallett.com\/blog\/of-desire\/","title":{"rendered":"Of Desire","gt_translate_keys":[{"key":"rendered","format":"text"}]},"content":{"rendered":"
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LENTEN RETREAT
\n Day 17<\/p>\n

\"restingjesus_Fotor3\"from Christ at Rest, <\/em>by Hans Holbein the Younger (1519)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

TO <\/strong>rest with Jesus in the Storm is not a passive rest, as though we are to\u00a0remain oblivious to the world around us. It is not…<\/p>\n

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…the rest of inactivity, but of the harmonious working of all the faculties and affections\u2014of will, heart, imagination, conscience\u2014because each has found in God the ideal sphere for its satisfaction\u00a0and development.<\/strong> \u2014J. Patrick, Vine’s Expository, <\/em>p. 529; cf. Hastings’ Bible Dictionary<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Think of the Earth and its orbit. The planet is in perpetual motion, always encircling the Sun, thereby generating the seasons; always rotating, generating night and day; always faithful to the course set out for it by the Creator. There you have the picture of what it means to “rest”: to live perfectly in the Divine Will.<\/p>\n

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And yet, to live in\u00a0the Divine Will is more than detached obedience, for example, like the Moon. It too obediently follows its set course… but it neither receives nor generates life. But the Earth\u2014as though hungering for and transfixed upon the Sun\u2014absorbs its transforming rays, converting light <\/em>to life. <\/em>So too, the heart truly at “rest” in the orbit of the Father and Son is one that is constantly absorbing the Light of Christ\u2014in all its forms of grace\u2014and converting them into good works that produce the fruits of salvation in and around them.<\/p>\n

And here is what I mean by “absorb”: to desire, <\/em>to thirst <\/em>for God; to thirst for His Presence; to thirst for His Wisdom; to thirst for truth, beauty, and goodness. This\u00a0holy desire, this thirst<\/em>, is what makes another highway in the soul for the transforming presence of God. As Jesus said:<\/p>\n

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Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for righteousness,\u00a0for they will be satisfied. (Matt 5:6)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

The word “righteousness” here connotes a desire “to submit to the plan of God for the salvation of the human race.” [1]<\/sup><\/a>footnote,\u00a0NABre, Matt 3:14-15; 5:6<\/span><\/span>