Proverbs 13:19 “Desire fulfilled is sweet to the soul, but turning from evil is detestable to fools.”

Biological human life has certain non-negotiables to consider one alive. The Johns-Hopkins website states: “The four main vital signs routinely monitored by medical professionals and health care providers include the following:

• Body temperature
• Pulse rate
• Respiration rate (rate of breathing)
• Blood pressure”

No body temperature other than the ambient one? You’re not alive. No pulse rate? Same thing. Not breathing? Not living. No blood pressure, no life.

There are vital signs of spiritual life as well. And one of them is explicated perfectly in this verse. It is couched in the contrast between one spiritually alive and one not. And it is quite the contrast: A desire fulfilled versus turning from evil.

And herein is the great divide between those regenerate, and those not: Nothing is more desirous for the regenerate than being freed from their sin, while for the unregenerate – nothing is more detestable than having to turn away from their evil.

Many a sincere Believer is plagued by a lack of assurance over their salvation due to their ongoing struggle against the remaining pull of indwelling sin. It makes them both miserable and doubtful. Can I be a true Christian and still find such repulsive inclinations within? It is a heartfelt cry. Little do they know that the struggle is in and of itself, a vital sign of true spiritual life in Christ.

The unregenerate do not grieve over and long for freedom from – the very presence of sin – as sin. They may want deliverance from the consequences of it if it has produced certain miseries. But they do not care to turn from sin simply because it IS sin, and is contrary to the new desires implanted by the Holy Spirit in every true Believer.

In contrast, every true Christian hates their sin. They grieve over the fact that some sinful impulses remain, and break out from time to time. They long to be rid of it all. They look forward to the day when in the resurrection – sin will be no more. Nothing is sweeter to the soul. Nothing is more desired.

A number of years ago I presided over the funeral service for a man in our congregation. He was a character and a half. A true individual. Not Joe-Average Christian. Sometimes I had no idea where he was coming from on things. But one day, in the midst of a most casual conversation, with tear filled eyes, he looked at me and said – “I can’t wait until the day when I no longer have any desire for sin.” He went on to lament just how much sin grieved him. His spiritual heartbeat was a strong as it could be.

Maybe this is you today. The pain of sin’s inward impulses grieve you to no end. And sometimes, they are so relentless, you begin to wonder if such could be the case in a genuine Christian. Dear brother, dear sister – nothing could be a greater testament to the reality of your regeneration than to hate sin for sin’s sake – and how it impairs your joy in walking after Christ as you would.

Take heart beloved. The day will come when this desire will be so completely and sweetly fulfilled in Christ. He who began that good work in you, will be working to complete it until that day.