Desire realized is sweet to the soul, But it is an abomination to fools to turn away from evil.  Proverbs 13:19

One of the key things that will lead to a happy life is when we realize godly desires in our lives.  Today's proverb gives us some very wonderful counsel when it comes to realizing the desires that will truly bless us.  Let's take a look at this - because it truly is a very important principle when it comes to living a contented, happy life. 

Desire realized is sweet to the soul.  This easily could be misinterpreted to mean that we are to run after whatever desire rises within our hearts.  We know this is not true because we know that our struggle to be godly and to please God has much to do with putting to death the desires that rise out of our flesh - and surrendering ourselves to those which are giving to us by the Holy Spirit.  Also the second half of our proverb warns against the man who will not turn away from evil.  Therefore we know that these "desires" have boundaries set for them to keep them from being dominated by our flesh.

If all we ever do is dream - and those dreams are not realized in any kind of fulfillment, we will be a miserable soul indeed.  God made us so that we have the function of desire - and also that we would dream of things far beyond ourselves.  But only a lazy man will dream alone without any kind of fulfillment of those dreams that make his heart burn within him.  It is given to us to dream and desire so that we will be moved to action to see those desires fulfilled.  Such desires motivate us to DO something.  Often the doing is the undoing of many desires and dreams.  We are unable or often unwilling to put the effort and the steadfastness into our dreams to see them become reality.  Oh, but what sweetness is ours when that desire is realized.  Let me illustrate in a couple of examples.

Ever mow your lawn?  I dread the start of mowing my lawn.  If there was not the reward of a freshly mowed and manicured lawn at the end of that process, I might never address the grass that grows around my house.  But when I am finished, I love to stand and look at a lawn that looks good.  There is something very sweet about that particular desire realized that seriously motivates me to take up that task.  As a pastor I am constantly starting up various projects that we do as a church.  There is the desire to see something done that starts the process.  Then there is the nuts and bolts work of doing that particular task.  Often the details and the work is where we get bogged down in this process.  But as we apply ourselves as a fellowship, we are blessed with the desire realized in the end, which is sweet to all those who have given themselves to the task.  This is life - and those who follow these paths from the desire stage to the accomplishment at the end know the sweetness of which Solomon speaks. 

The second half of our proverb tells us that it is an abomination to fools to turn away from evil.  Most projects that are undertaken are for good purposes and plans.  The fool though knows nothing of this kind of lifestyle.  He thinks too highly of his comfort to actually work toward a goal.  The fool is both lazy and undisciplined.  For him to realize a desire of his would require him to get up off of his duff and do something.  He finds such things an abomination.  He would much rather do his own thing - which is usually nothing.  The other fact about the fool is that he loves his evil too much to allow God to guide his desires into something positive and helpful.  The vast majority of his desires are in a close orbit around himself.  Therefore he despises the rebuke and leading of God to break out of a self-centered orbit to explore the vast recesses of what true selflessness could accomplish.  Unless he get some sort of selfish pleasure that immediately placates his own love of self - he is not interested.  Therefore much of his life is spent either in a short-term immediate pleasure that leaves him empty later - or in wanting things he in no way will be disciplined enough to actually do. 

Misery follows the fool wherever he goes.  His life is spent wanting much for himself - but gathering realitvely little.  The wise man's journey is much different thnough.  He spends his life seeking the heart of Another.  In seeking the heart of God he finds himself drawn into activities and dreams that both bless others as well as glorifies the One Who placed the ideas and dreams into his heart in the first place.  He has the sweetness of desire realized because the One Who put them into his heart also empowers him to see them accomplished.  Ah what blessedness lies in that wise path that first receives from and then relies upon God to bring about those things which glorify His great name as well as bless the heart of man.

The desire of the righteous is only good, But the expectation of the wicked is wrath.   Proverbs 11:23

What do you want?  That is a pretty general question - but it is the one that is addressed in today's proverb.  The thing is that we are looking at what people want from the perspective of God, not just what people or the "market" wants.

From God's standpoint we are oing to watch Him put boh the righteous and the wicked man into the balances, weigh them and their choices, and state what each deserves. First we see that God places the righteous into the scales.  He says that the righteous man's desires are only good.  This coincides with what Jesus says in the Beattitudes.  In Matthew chapter 5, we read the following, "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied."  God not only is pleased with those who hunger and thirst for what He says is right - He promises wonderful levels of satisfaction for those who do.  There is also another statement made in the Psalms that when we delight ourselves in the Lord, He will give us the desires of our heart.  It is so important to know that when we are living for righteousness and pursuing what is right - God cuts us loose to enjoy as much as we want.  That is why He says here that these kind of desires are "only good." 

The wicked, though, have no sch guarantee.  We read that the expectation of the wicked in wrath.  It is helpful for us to see that word "expectation" here.  The reason it is so important is because often what the wicked desire will give them an immediate positive feeling.  The person who abuses alcoholic drinks has an immediate positive response as he feels better and is much more free in his expression of himself.  But he can expect problems later.  Having been a drunkard before I was saved I can concur with God's statement here.  The expectation of the drunkard is only wrath and bad consequences.  There is the hangover that comes in the morning.  There is also the realization that the supposed freedom that you felt the night before took away your natural defenses against saying something stupid.  Can't tell you how many times a Friday night bender led to a whole week of consequences with friends and aquaintences.  Another area I want to address here is that of sexual immorality.  The person who is sexually immmoral loves the immediate pleasure provided by it.  Unfortunately, the crisis pregnancy, the positive STD test, and the broken relationships are not so pleasurable.  The pornography may give us a temporary high feeling and sense of thrill as we look at it, but later the bondage that results, the pull into deeper perversion, and the way it leads people to treat the opposite sex as an object can be devastating. 

The Word of God speaks of God's "judgments."  These are things that God has said concerning certain behaviors in life.  When we choose to disobey God and embrace our lfleshly lusts we do so because of the promise of pleasure and immediate satisfaction.  The problem is that God has said what His response will be to such things.  These are His judgments.  He says that problems will result - disasters are on the horizon - and blessing will be forfeited.  These judgments WILL COME upon those who choose to disobey regardless of what God says.  They can expect the wrath of God when they rebel.  God has made this very clear when He said in Romans chapter 1, "The wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness ofmen who suppress the truth with their unrighteousness."  God's attitude and actions toward ungodliness and unrigteousness have been settled from eternity past.  Those who reject Him and His Word need to know that He has amply published the results of such behavior - and it has never been good.  Therefore the truly wise man knows that blessings await those who embrace righteousness - but for those who chose a wicked lifestyle - only wrath awaits them.