Chapter 6: Satisfaction Fleeting:
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| Little Stony Man | Shenandoah National Park |
Those who have everything they could ever want and desire may seem to be the most blessed people that walk the earth. One of the things about the Gospel is that people rarely give their lives over to Christ when they are extremely comfortable and loving life. Jesus spoke on this: "… Truly, I say to you, only with difficulty will a rich person enter the kingdom of heaven. Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God." Matthew 19:23-24 | This is an extremely prevalent issue in the United States today, we want for nothing in life and it puts us in a state of comfort where we only focus on obtaining trinkets and toys that are marketed to us as fulfilling and life-changing. We are so engrossed with ourselves and our pride runs so deep within us that without some sort of hardship or turmoil it is very easy to feel that we don't need God. We have created a culture that revolves around doing only what we want to do. Even when we "give-up" our time to help others with a project, mission, or assisting those less fortunate than ourselves - it is done out of a selfish heart. We embolden ourselves and post-pictures of us doing "great things" for others but it comes with a lot of pride about what we did and why we did it. Where are the meekness and humility? Isn't that what we are professing to be when we call ourselves Christ-like? I am not saying we shouldn't help others, I am saying we need to check our own hearts in the midst of helping others and analyze the why behind the things we do. (We are missing out if we help others for the wrong reasons.) Introspection and diving deep into why we do what we do is a lost art and it damages our society. Surface level interactions produce surface-level relationships and they never fulfill us. We all have an eternity-sized hole in our soul that we constantly try to fill with earthly things and they never satisfy. Better to be dead in the womb and never exist than to be born into a world of vanity. Better to never live? Yes, it would be better to die in the womb than to be born if - during our time on earth - we never find the only thing that can satisfy our deepest longing. We have within us this deep desire to be known by others and to be seen for who we truly are and connect. This comes from us knowing we are in a fallen world and things are not the way they should be. It doesn't matter how long we are on this earth; 1 year, 10 years, 20 years, 50, 100, 1,000. We all die and go back to the ground and if we don't seek God and understand He is the alpha and omega, all is meaningless. Spouse, children, friends, parents, grandparents, achievements, money, fame, sex, power all are meaningless without having Christ at the center. We can enjoy all of those apart from Christ, that is common grace, but we will never fully experience the joy that can be found in others if we don't root ourselves in His everlasting glory. "Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things." Philippians 4:8. We are called to think on the things of God and know that He is our hope and refuge, no trinkets or toys can save us.
We
cannot be satisfied by this world because we are not meant to stay here. It
is a temporary shed for our eternal souls. There is no distinction between
those who are wise and those who are foolish, the rich or the poor, the strong
or the weak, because in the end, if Christ does not come and save us, we all
share the same fate. Without Him, we are meaningless. Through Him, we are able
to enjoy our lives regardless of our circumstances and it has everything to do
with Him and nothing we ourselves bring to the table. |"The cosmos is all that is, or ever was, or ever will be." - Carl Sagan | When Carl Sagan made this
statement he was not saying that God created the cosmos. However, he was
agreeing with Solomon that there is nothing new under the sun. (Whether or not
he knew that.) It is true since the creation of the universe there has not
been anything added to it nor taken away from it. All things came to be through God's
word and the universe has been expanding ever since He spoke it into existence. All matter
was created from one single point of nothingness and has brought us to the point in
time that we are at right now. This universe will continue on-and-on until the
end of time and nothing new will come from it. We will dwell on our small earth
revolving around a single fascinating star with a collection of mediocre
planets. In the vastness of the universe, we are not even a speck within it.
However, there is a purpose to be found if we know the creator, only He can show
us the way to true life because He invented all things. (And all who call upon His name can be called son or daughter of the living God.) He created man and
woman in His image in order to cultivate the earth and bring beauty to it. We
failed and live in a post-Genesis 3 world. But, through Him, all things work
together for our good and His glory. That does not mean we will only have good
things happen to us or that we will be happy throughout our entire life. It
means we can endure through any hardships that come our way because our hope is
not in this earth, it is in an eternal joy that is found in Christ. This is our
answer to verse 12 when Solomon asks: "For who knows what is good for man
while he lives the few days of his vain life, which he passes like a shadow?
For who can tell a man what will be after him under the sun?" Christ is
good, Christ is the way to live under the sun.
Dear Lord, I pray that will you press these ideas and thoughts deep into my heart and encourage me to draw life from you and not this earth. Make me into a man who dwells on his thoughts and actions and lives a life of meekness and humility. Let me be a blessing to those around me by showing them your light that dwells within me. Amen.
All images © 2015 - 2021 Jordan Tackett
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