I once saw a big ad in the newspaper that said, “I want it now.” What it meant was that you get it now and pay for it later. That’s the way most of us buy things these days. We’re living in a period that I think may go down in history as “the instant civilization.”
Instant coffee. Instant soup, instant meals in microwave ovens—everything is instant. We don’t want to work for it. We don’t want to wait for it. We don’t want to do it God’s way. We want it now.
This is what Esau said. He came in from the field, and he was hungry. He saw his brother with some stew, and he said, “I want some of that.” His brother, Jacob, said, “If you’ll give me your birthright, I’ll give you some stew” (see Genesis 25:29-34).
Now the birthright meant everything. But Esau was so hungry that he sold his birthright to his brother in order to “get it now.”
Once, when Israel was at war, David didn’t go and lead the battle as he normally did. He stayed at home. While he was in his palace, he looked across and saw a beautiful woman taking a bath. And he said, “I want her; I want her now.” She was another man’s wife.
David was a man after God’s own heart—a man of God. And yet he had her husband killed. He was guilty of murder and adultery. He tried to cover it up, until Nathan the prophet went to him and said, “You are the man!” (2 Samuel 12:7). Then David began to confess and to repent. But he never really recovered his stature again. Something was lacking in his life from that moment on.
David’s son Absalom said the same thing. He said, “I don’t want to wait for my father to die, when I may have a chance of inheriting the throne. I want to be king now.” So he led a rebellion against his father.
In Jesus’ parable of the prodigal son, there was a father with two sons. And the younger lad knew he had an inheritance coming. About a third of his father’s estate would go to him, and two-thirds to his older brother. He didn’t like it on the farm, so he asked for his inheritance. He said, “I want it now.”
And he got it. He spent it on riotous living, and he ended up in a pigpen, empty and disillusioned. All of his friends had left him.
You see, the devil also pays wages. Serve the devil, and he’ll pay you. He’ll hold out to you the most beautiful promises you have ever heard. Satan’s offer is always clothed in the most beautiful, sparkling wrapping. But he is a liar and the father of lies, according to the Lord Jesus Christ.
And the devil may be lying to you right now. He’s whispering in your ear. He’s telling you that his way is better than God’s way. But so many people, with seemingly everything to live for, die disillusioned and despairing, fearful and bitter. Satan promises the world; but he gives an empty heart, an empty and lost soul. And you end up in judgment and hell as the result.
Many people seek instant pleasure instead of true happiness. A famous movie star said in a television interview, “You know, I only wanted to find a little bit of happiness. And I’d find a little of it here and there, but not much.”
One of the world’s great ballet dancers, at the end of an interview, looked down and said, “You know, I’m really searching for my spiritual self. I really don’t know who I am.”
Do you know who you are? Have you found your spiritual self? Do you have such a relationship with Jesus Christ that there’s a joy and a peace and a happiness in your life, and forgiveness of sin and a knowledge that if you died at this moment, you would go to Heaven? Do you know that? If you don’t know that, you can make sure today.
You say, “Well, I’m a member of the church. I’ve been confirmed.” But down deep in your heart, you know that Christ is not your Lord and Savior. Because Lord and Savior must go together. Lord means king. It means that Jesus is on the throne of your life, in every area of your life.
