There's a scene in "The Mask of Zorro" in which early on in the story, a young man (played by Antonia Banderas) finds himself drunk in a cantina. The young man and his brother had grown up as orphans, and he has witnessed the slaughter of his brother at the hands of a malevolent and wicked military officer.
While drunk in the cantina, the young man sees his brother's murderer ride into town and determines to take his vengeance. As he gets up to rush out towards his enemy, he is knocked down by another man, a mysterious stranger, who happens to be Zorro cloaked in disguise.
Not knowing to whom he's speaking, the bewildered young man scrambles and spits out, "What are you doing?! I was about to kill that man."
Zorro answers, "You should thank me."
"I should thank you?!"
"Yes," says Zorro. "You would have fought bravely, and died quickly; for that man is trained to kill and you are trained to drink."
The young man's desires, in this case, would have lead to disastrous consequences.
But, not all desire is bad. There are four roots or sources of desire that whisper in our ears, each attempting to sway us:
- The ruined world
- The ruined angels
- The ruined heart (the flesh)
- The restored heart
If you're going to live from desire, a caution must be given: We should neither dismiss all desire, nor should we indulge all desire. It requires discernment to know the root of any particular desire.
As we walk with God, the desires of the restored heart grow stronger and those offered by all that is ruined are crucifed.
Our task is to indulge the deep desires of our new and noble hearts in ways that are life-giving -- not rushing in too early, but allowing the impeccable timing of God to direct their fulfillment.