What we desire says a lot about us. How often have you had to answer the question, “Why in the world would you want that?” Of course, we can answer why we want something, but we may also realize the other person would never understand the answer. 

As it has been said, “The heart has reasons which reason knows nothing of..” or, to put it another way, “The heart wants what the heart wants.” Sometimes, we don’t even understand why we want something.

When we read about Eve, we know she desired the fruit that was off-limits. She’s not alone. We’ve all wanted something that we know isn’t allowed. We may call it our “guilty pleasure.” Something that gives us pleasure while also making us guilty. Like Eve, we may know the consequences of our guilty pleasure and, like her, may not fully understand the extent of the consequences of getting it (at least at the time of ‘eating’). Like we say, “A moment on the lips, a lifetime…” Well, you get the idea.

Nevertheless, no matter how much pleasure it brings, it always leaves us guilty and maybe naked and afraid, like Adam and Eve. Naked because we know we are guilty as charged, and afraid because we know we are unfit to stand before a Holy God.

What would happen if our desires changed? The author of Hebrews writes that Moses chose to “share the oppression of God’s people instead of enjoying the fleeting pleasures of sin” (Hebrews 11:25). So it is possible to make better choices if we desire to do so (did you see what I did there?).

Instead of “Guilty Pleasures,” Moses saw them as “Fleeting Pleasures.” That’s something we don’t always realize. The pleasures of this world are temporary. While they might be good momentarily (a moment on the lips…), they leave a bad aftertaste like stress, anxiety, and brokenness (a lifetime, it seems).

Maybe it’s time for us to desire something different, something better. Perhaps it’s time for us to redefine our “guilty pleasures” and see them as “fleeting.” They’re good for a while, but the long-term consequences are not. They may serve us in the short term, but they also destroy us.

This is part of “The Formative Path” a 2024 Fall Sermon Series at St. Paul United Methodist Church in Bloomington, Indiana. For more information and the Weekly Reflection Sheets, go to https://ponderingpassages.com/category/path/