If you haven’t read the Christian hit, “Desiring God” by John Piper, get ready to be inspired and excited about your walk with the Lord.
This great book brings sweet truth and godly conviction all wrapped in one. John Piper explains the love of God like no other and you get a glimpse of what his walk with the Lord really looks like. He encourages Christians to walk a life worthy of the gospel of Jesus Christ and the truth that God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him. Piper shares the importance of desiring God and taking great pleasure in Him.
He brings about a strong message with glimpses and revelations into Psalms, wisdom from C.S. Lewis, the apostle Paul, and Jesus’ words. Let’s take a look at some of the takeaways from the book.
Desiring God: Truly Knowing Him
“But to enjoy Him we must know Him. Seeing is savoring. If He remains a blurry, vague fog, we may be intrigued for a season. But we will not be stunned with joy, as when the fog clears and you find yourself on the brink of some vast precipice.”
It can be easy in our careless culture and sometimes even in Christian culture to hear about God and do all the right things, but not truly know Him for who He really is. Once you have an encounter with the living, loving God, you will never be the same.
I love how Piper mentions that we must know God and when we truly know Him, it will be more than just intrigue for a season. We will hunger and thirst for Him and His righteousness every day and for every season.
Desiring God: Suffering Christ
“God is calling us to live for the sake of Christ and to do that through suffering. Christ chose suffering; it didn’t just happen to Him. He chose it as the way to create and perfect the church. Now He calls us to choose suffering. That is, He calls us to take up our cross and follow Him on the Calvary road and deny ourselves and make sacrifices for the sake of ministering to the church and presenting His sufferings to the world.”
Suffering for Christ is not mentioned nearly as much in today’s Christian culture than it should. God says in the Word that we would encounter suffering for the cause of Christ and that we should count it an honor when we suffer for Christ.
That may be new for some of us! In this Piper quote above, it says that Christ actually chose to suffer for us. And now He calls us to do the same. Not that we let the enemy steal from us, but we endure hardship for His sake and for His glory to be revealed through our lives.
Desiring God: Above All
“…all the evils in the world come not because our desires for happiness are too strong, but because they are so weak that we settle for fleeting pleasures that do not satisfy our deepest souls, but in the end destroy them. The root of all evil is that we are the kind of people who settle for the love of money instead of the love of God.” (1 Timothy 6:10)
Like the title shares, Piper emphasizes the importance of desiring God above all else. Piper points out how all other desires are so weak and do not satisfy the depths of our souls. God’s love is what every heart is searching for.
When we fall more in love with Jesus we can’t help but desire more and more of Him. The bible says in Jeremiah 29:13, “You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.” What a great truth and a love letter to all believers today.
We hope these takeaways from “Desiring God” by John Piper have inspired you to learn more about this book. Make sure to check out Desiring God if you haven’t already.
This article was written by Monique Santiago.
