Desiring God

I want to call your attention to one of the most paradigm changing and delightfully powerful books I’ve ever read. It is a work written by John Piper, and it is called Desiring God.

Many of you are no doubt familiar with the book. It is already something of a classic. Nevertheless, there might be a few who have never considered its contents. If you are one such person, I want to strongly encourage you to take the time to read it. As a result of wrestling with the ideas articulated by John Piper, my thinking hasn’t been the same. Glorious truths have sprung to life. I see things differently.

What is the central point of the book? It is, of course, always dangerous to try to reduce a concept down to a catch phrase, but Dr. Piper has successfully summarized it as follows:

God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him.

To state the matter a bit differently, it is overwhelmingly awesome to know that God’s glory and our happiness is not at all at odds. They are essentially one; the magnification of God’s fame results in our increased happiness.

If this strikes you in the least bit as dangerous, I would merely call your attention to the cross itself. Through the cross, God glorified His name. And what did that holy zeal for His own glory procure for us? Everything.

Note again the opening verses of Ephesians. The passage is all about God’s glory. He predestined us to adoption for “the praise of His glorious grace” (1:6). Think about that phrase. Salvation redounds unto His glory. And yet, we are talking about **our **salvation! That is the channel (in this example) through which His fame is amplified.

What glorious congruity! God’s glory and our happiness is intimately connected... forever.

Now then. Go here and feast on the book. You can download it for free as a PDF. (Or just click the image below)