Come with me to the most populated prison in the world. The facility has more inmates than bunks. More prisoners than plates. More residents than resources.
Come with me into the world's most oppressive prison. Just ask the inmates; they will tell you. They are overworked and underfed. Their walls are bare and bunks are hard.
No prison is so populated, no prison so oppressive, and, what's more, no prison is so permanent. Most inmates never leave. They never escape. They never get released. They serve a life sentence in this overcrowded, under-provisioned facility.
The name of the prison? You'll see it over the entrance. Rainbowed over the gate are four cast iron letters that spell out its name:
W-A-N-T
The prison of want. You've seen her prisoners. They are "in want". They want something. They want something bigger. Nicer. Faster. Thinner. They want.
They don't want much, mind you. They just want one thing. One new job. One new car. One new house. One new spouse. They don't want much. They just want one.
And when they have "one", they will be happy. And they are right - they will be happy. When they have "one", they will leave the prison. But then it happens. The new-car smell passes. The new job gets old. The neighbors buy a larger television set. The new spouse has bad habits. The sizzle fizzes, and before you know it, another ex-con breaks parole and returns to jail.
Are you in prison? You are if you feel better when you have more and worse when you have less. You are if joy is one delivery away, one sexual experience away, one transfer away, one award away, or one makeover away. If your happiness comes from something you deposit, drive, date, drink, or digest, then face it - you are in prison, the prison of want.
Think for just a moment about the things that you have. Think about the house you have, the car you drive, the money you've saved. Think about the jewelry you've inherited and the stocks you've traded and the clothes you've purchased. Think about the last drink you had or the last time you were intimate. Think about the people you've been with and the things you've shared and the trust and expectation you put into each of them.
Now think about all the things that you desire to have. Think about the newest toy or video game or iPhone that's come out. Think about the newest movie, or the newest album, or the sexiest superstar. Now, envision all your stuff, the things you've had and the things you desire to have. Is there even one among them that has brought you lasting joy?
Are you hoping that a change in circumstances will bring a change in your attitude? If so, you are in prison, and you need to learn the secret of traveling light. What is the one thing separating you from joy? How do you fill in this blank: "I will be happy when ______________ ?" When I am healed. When I am promoted. When I am married. When I am single. When I am rich. Now as you form your answer, ponder this. If your ship never comes in, if your dream never comes true, if the situation never changes, could you be happy? If not, then you are sleeping in the cold cell of discontent. You are in prison. And you need to know what you have in your Shepherd.
"The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want. He makes me to lie down in green pastures; he leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul; He leads me in the paths of righteousness for His name's sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil. My cup runs over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life; and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. Amen." - Psalm 23, a Psalm of David
"Naked a man comes from his mother's womb, and as he comes, so he departs. He takes nothing from his labor that he can carry in his hand." - Eccles. 5:15
David has found the pasture where discontent goes to die. It's as if he's saying, "what I have in God is greater than what I don't have in life." All of your stuff isn't yours. Ask any coroner, any embalmer. No one takes anything with him. And all that stuff isn't who you are. Jesus said, "Life is not defined by what you have, even when you have a lot" - Luke 12:15. If you define yourself by your stuff or your position or your education, then you'll feel good only when those things are in order. Even the most enduring of any of those "things" are fleeting at best. Things break. People hurt and let down. Circumstances change without warning. If your joy depends on things or people or circumstances, you will always be left wanting and without. You will remain in the prison of want.
You have a God who hears you, the power of love behind you, the Holy Spirit within you, and all of heaven ahead of you. If you have the Shepherd, you have grace for every sin, direction for every turn, a candle for every corner, and an anchor for every storm. You have everything you need. And who can take it from you? Can leukemia infect your salvation? Can bankruptcy impoverish your prayers? A tornado might take your earthly house, but will it touch your heavenly home?
And look at your position. Why clamor for prestige and power? Are you not already privileged to be part of the greatest work in history? If you are a child of God, you are automatically part of a global enterprise. One that has branches in every country in the world; with representatives in nearly every parliament and boardroom on earth. We're into motivation and behavior alteration. We run hospitals, feeding stations, crisis-pregnancy centers, universities, publishing houses, and nursing homes. Our organization cares for its clients from birth to death. We are into life insurance and fire insurance. We perform spiritual heart transplants. Our original Organizer owns all the real estate on earth, plus an assortment of galaxies and constellations. He knows everything and lives everywhere. Our product is free for the asking. (There's not enough money to buy it). Our CEO was born in a hick town, worked as a carpenter, didn't own a home, was misunderstood by his family and hated by his enemies, walked on water, was condemned to death without a trial, and arose from the dead. And we get to talk with him every day.
- I've paraphrased and added some things in for good measure.
If you do not know Jesus as your Shepherd, you are living in the prison of want. And only you have the key. You can choose to leave any time you want.
" I shall no want"
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