Burning with Desire

I know almost nothing about marketing and advertising. I am aware it exists. I am aware that I am often drawn to purchase items that I see advertised. I have no idea how it works or why.

Advertising is powerful. Advertising communicates a clear, penetrating message to people through text, music, and images. There is an entire industry that gains all income from clever advertising of questionable products (see As Seen On TV products).

Each trip that I have made overseas has had a common observational truth... Each time I have found myself in a foreign country with little grasp of the language and almost totally ignorant of the culture, but still familiar with the billboards and magazines around me... because they are American advertisements of various products.

During my most recent trip to China I was struck by the amount of American advertisement. It seemed like everywhere I looked I found an American advertisement that included some level of sexual stimulus. Billboards advertising cologne were liberally filled with well-endowed, scantily-dressed women. I found myself surrounded by sexually implicit, perhaps explicit, images in advertisement of various products that were all distinctly American.

The majority of the people that I seemed to talk with on this trip were all interested in America and American culture. People were curious of what America was like and seemed to invest a great amount of effort in acting, talking, and dressing American. So it should be of little surprise when I say that the majority of the women were dressed like billboard models and left very little to the imagination and many of the men looked amazingly feminine and spoke in the slang of advertisement.

These people were burning up with lust enticed through advertisement from a country and people that they seemed to admire. They looked at America through the lens of modern-day advertisement and saw a culture full of sex, selfishness, and sensuality. They saw a people without a care in the world, who were lapping up all that life had to offer and living out a fantasy that many dream of. Americans were fat, prideful, sexual people who worship self and seek fulfillment in bodily form without repercussion or penalty. What a great thing to advertise...

This was the same observation of the Psalmist in Psalm 73. The Psalmist looked around and saw how the world around him was full of people who were wicked and yet seemed to be complete. These wicked people were outwardly spoken of their wickedness and continued to lead a life of satisfaction. The Psalmist saw this and wrote how he almost slipped in his envy of them... he almost stumbled in his faith as he watched them... almost.

The key in the life of the Psalmist was an experience in the sanctuary when his eyes were lifted up from the short-sighted goals around him to eternity. As his eyes were lifted up from the happiness of today to the reality of eternity the Psalmist repented of his poor thoughts and regretting his weakness. The Psalmist decided, I want God more than I want anything else. The Psalmist was changed and began to burn with desire for God. He wanted God more than anything else... thoughts of God consumed him, thoughts about God consumed him, a deep inward desire to be like and with YHWH was his only desire.

What do you desire?