Forty Wishes (Psalms 27:4)

My colleague likes to give a written test to job applicants applying to his healthcare company. Before the interview, he asks them to write down their top forty wishes, or as many as they can complete. His objective is twofold; he is looking for evidence of creativity and diligence to complete the entire task, and is gaining insight into their personalities. He is looking for unselfish applicants, seeking wishes for others rather than themselves. Predictably, some applicants did not take the test very seriously. One flippantly wrote, “I wish for a thousand more wishes!” Puerile at best. Rejected!

 

Other applicants were more thoughtful. One was orphaned at a young age wished all children would have the benefit of parents and a stable family. Another said he would donate his wishes to someone poor and never had the benefits of a good education and job like he did.

 

After listening to this, I wondered, what would I wish? I would love to appear altruistic and unselfish, like Mother Teresa. But aside from a generic and lofty wish like finding a cure for cancer, I was stymied. I began to doubt the motives of my heart. Was I so selfish and self-centered that I could not come up with forty wishes to help others?

 

One thing have I asked of the Lord, that will I seek after: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to inquire in his temple.

Psalms 27:4 (ESV)

 

King David, who wrote these words, had one wish: to dwell in God’s presence. He knew that if he were to be used by God, He would first need to be in the right relationship with Him. We all need to make this our one desire, our one wish. How do we do this?

 

Forty wishes? I only want one that all would confess and repent of their sins and accept Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. Only then will your soul’s deepest desires be fulfilled as you allow God to lead you in this life and into the next.

Amen!

 

Love and trust the Lord; seek His will in your life.