There are two entities that desire all of you. All of your effort. All of your devotion. All of your resources.
The first of these entities is, of course, government. Government has its hooks in you and you have very little say in the matter. Government requires you to give, and give, and give, and give, and give. Government oppresses you. It condemns you. It enslaves you. It can destroy you.
Government mandates to you the following:
Income tax: You are penalized by your government for being productive.
Property tax: You never, ever, ever, own your home. Even after the mortgage is paid in full, you are still required to rent your property from government.
Ad valorem tax: Like your property, you never own your automobile. It to is rented from the government.
Sales tax: Government takes from you for simply engaging in the activity required to meet your needs. You must get "permission" from the government to feed and clothe yourself.
Gasoline tax: You must also have "permission" to operate your rented car.
Inheritance tax: You must pay the government for the death of your loved one. Talk about insult to injury!
Capital Gains tax: You must pay the government for the reward of taking a risk with the money they've already taxed once.
I could go on and on....but you get the picture. We won't even get into utility taxes, Obamacare taxes, penalties and fines of various and stupid natures, local option sales taxes, state taxes, carbon taxes, et cetera.
Nor will we get into burdensome regulations that are imposed by government to strangle the vitality and life out of men.
The second entity that desires all of you, of course, is God. He desires your trust. He desires your devotion. He desires your love. Your faith. He desires your hopes. He desires your dreams. He desires your friendship. He desires your sorrows. He desires your body. Your mind. Your heart. He is crazy about you. He loves you so much, in fact, that He will resign Himself to hurt and pain to honor your will. He doesn't force Himself on you. He doesn't oppress you. He doesn't condemn you. He doesn't enslave you. He doesn't destroy you.
1 John 4:8 tells us that God is love. 1 Corinthians chapter 13 tells us about love. We've all heard the verses: Love is patient, love is kind; but I want to take a little liberty with those verses and substitute God for love.
God is patient, God is kind. He does not envy, He does not boast, He is not proud. He does not dishonor others, He is not self seeking, He is not easily angered, He keeps no record of wrongs. He does not delight in evil, but rejoices with the truth. He always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. He never fails......
He is love; and He desires all of you. Are you willing to give Him his desire?
