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The Aftermath of Salvation

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A New Desire that Brought True Life

A New Direction, A New Desire, A New Life

Before I became saved, I lived for myself—and honestly, I was happy to.

I lived for what I wanted, what I wanted to do, and what I desired. Sometimes it got me into trouble, but even that didn't always stop me. I wanted what I wanted, and I was going to do what I wanted to do.

But underneath all of that, there was an emptiness. There was a feeling that something was missing, that life didn't have much meaning or purpose. Yet I kept living for myself anyway.

And if I'm being honest, I think that's probably true for most of us before we knew Christ.

I would wake up in the morning, and it was about me.

What do I want to do today?

What do I want?

What will make me happy?

What do I feel like doing?

It was all about I.

And at the end of the day, it was still about I.

I was at the center of my own life.

I didn't wake up asking, “God, what do You want from me today?”

I woke up asking, “What do I want?”

That was my life.

I started it, I made the decisions, I followed my desires—and I ended it.

Everything began with “I” and everything ended with “I.”

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When Everything Changed

When I got saved, something changed.

I suddenly had a new desire. It wasn't something I sat down and calculated or something I had to formulate. I didn't have to convince myself to want it. It was just there—just as real and present as all the desires I had before.

I wanted to know God.

I wanted to please God.

I wanted to follow Jesus with everything I had.

It was a desire I hadn't created. God had put it in me.

And to give you a really bad analogy, it's almost like I had been eating hamburger my whole life. I was happy eating a fast-food hamburger. I didn't know I was missing anything, and I wasn't sitting around wishing for something different.

Then someone gave me a really good steak.

And suddenly I thought, “Wait… why would I ever want to go back to just hamburger?”

That's what it felt like.

I had been completely satisfied living for myself, until I experienced something better. I had a new appetite. A new desire. A desire for God that I didn't have before.

I didn't stop wanting things. I didn't suddenly become perfect. But for the first time, I wanted something more than I wanted myself.

I wanted Him.

Ezekiel tells us that in salvation, God would give us a new heart—and He did.(Ezekiel 36:26)

Something changed inside of me. I had a new desire for what was good, what was right, and what was life-giving.

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A New Desire

Before, my desire was to make myself happy. I lived for the things I thought would satisfy me, but the satisfaction never really lasted. I would get what I wanted, enjoy it for a little while, and then I would be thirsty again. I was constantly looking for the next thing that would make me feel fulfilled.

But now my desire had changed.

I wanted to make God happy. I wanted to please Him. And strangely enough, when I began living for Him instead of myself, I became truly joyful.

It was as if I had spent my whole life trying to satisfy my thirst by drinking from a cup that could never fill me, and then God gave me living water.

Jesus said, “Whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst.”(John 4:13-14)

And for the first time, I understood what that meant.

I had been drinking my own water—trying to satisfy myself, my desires, my wants—and it always left me thirsty.

But God gave me something different.

Living water.

And instead of leaving me empty, it began to fill me.

I wasn't just trying to find happiness anymore. I had found something far better.

Joy.

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The Battle of Our Desires

Did my old desires just disappear?

Some did. But others fought to rear their ugly heads again.

And honestly, they became even stronger when I gave them strength—when I fed them through the things I watched, the things I listened to, the things I allowed into my mind and heart, and the things I continued to receive.

It's a battle.

I can go back and feed myself the fast-food hamburger. It's easy, it's convenient, and in the moment, it tastes good. But I know that if I keep eating it, eventually it's going to affect me. Or I can choose something healthy that will actually nourish me, strengthen me, and build me up.

The Christian life is much like that.

We have to fight the temptations, the old habits, and even the ways of thinking we have taught ourselves over the years—things that feel normal to us but are completely contrary to what God wants for us.

And here's the hard part: we get to choose what we feed.

If I continually feed the flesh, I shouldn't be surprised when the flesh becomes strong.(Galatians 5:16-17)

But if I continually feed my spirit, I become stronger in my ability to resist the things that once controlled me.

That is why we cannot expect to live a strong Christian life while barely feeding ourselves spiritually.

We have to keep coming back to the table God has prepared for us.

We have to spend time in His Word. We have to pray. We have to worship. We have to obey. We have to fill ourselves with the things that bring life.

Because the temptation of the fast food will always be there. It will always look appealing. It will always promise something quick and satisfying.(Matthew 4:4)

But we have to remember what we have already tasted.

We have tasted something better.

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What Are You Going to Feed?

So the question isn't whether the temptation will come.

It will.

The question is: What are you going to feed?

Because what you feed will grow.