How Much Of God Do You Want?

I was sooo blessed during Wednesday Night's service on August 5th. I was sharing one of my favorite scripture selections which is found in 2 Timothy:

2 Timothy 3:1-5
1 But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come:
2 For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient
to parents, unthankful, unholy,
3 unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good,
4 traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God,
5 having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away!

After reading the passage to the congregation I asked them to imagine the kind of person Paul was describing when he spoke of those who "have a form of godliness but deny the power of godliness."

What would a person of this sort, look like, sound like, what kind of things would they say? Why would they want to have a form of godliness but not have godliness operating in their life in a significant way?

As I considered this question myself, I was reminded of a quote I had heard many years ago on Chuck Swindoll's radio program, "Insight for Living". It's a quote that refers to the kind of person Paul might have had in mind when he wrote 2 Timothy 3 verse 5. I reached into my memory banks to try to recall the quote and only remembered the part where the person says, "I'd like to have $3.00 worth of God please, put it in a bag. I don't want enough of God that will change my life, rather, just enough to make me feel good and get me into heaven". I mentioned the quote because it reminds me that when it comes to the question of "how much of God do I want"? I want as much of God as I can get. I hope you do too.

I want my life to have a form of godliness and I want to invite the power of God, I want as much of God as I can get.

Toward the end of our Wednesday night meeting, while in the midst of the "afterglow" portion of the service, a woman walked up to me and handed me a magazine that she "just happened" to have with her. The magazine had the quote, (in it's entirety), that I had referred to earlier. Remember, I hadn't heard the quote since the time I heard it on "Insight for Living" more than 15 years ago.

I am posting the complete quote for you here:

As you read, please remember the writer is using the literary technique of sarcasm to highlight the underlying point that the writer is trying to make:


I would like to buy $3 worth of God, please.
Not enough to explode my soul or disturb my sleep,
but just enough to equal a cup of warm milk
or a snooze in the sunshine.
I don’t want enough of God to make me love a black man
or pick beets with a migrant.
I want ecstasy, not transformation.
I want warmth of the womb, not a new birth.
I want a pound of the Eternal in a paper sack.
I would like to buy $3 worth of God, please.

— Wilbur Rees


I hope you like the poem and I hope you appreciate the point the poet is trying to make.
Even more importantly, I hope you understand the point the apostle Paul was making to all of us who should welcome the power of God working in our lives.

Love and Grace to You All,

Pastor Mike