Comer begins with a philosophical and experiential analysis of the human condition, noting that in every culture throughout history, humanity has expressed the unending scope of its desires and the frustration that comes from being unable to fulfill them. Since our desire is infinite and our limitations mean that we are finite, we are left with the restlessness of the human condition. Comer suggests that this familiar dynamic comes down to the fact that we were made for relationship with an infinite God: “Human desire is infinite because we were made to live with God forever in his world and nothing less will ever satisfy us, so our only hope is to put desire back in its proper place on God” (146).

To do this, one then needs to put all other desires beneath that overarching, God-focused purpose, in which all human desire finds its proper context and delight. One of the main biblical ways this problem of human desire is addressed is through the Old Testament ritual of observing the Sabbath, and since Jesus observed the Sabbath, the same practice ought to guide those who live in apprenticeship under him.