Tag Archives: eternity

Joy, The Joy of the Lord

Fools Gold

Leave a comment

Hope Remains, latest novel by the author

Fools Gold – a brassy yellow mineral, especially pyrite, that can be mistaken for gold

“There is a God shaped vacuum in the heart of every man which cannot be filled by any created thing, but only  by God, the Creator, made known through Jesus Christ.” Blaise Pascal French Mathematician 1623-1662

Wasn’t it the Rolling Stones who could get no satisfaction after trying and trying and trying?

King Solomon tried all manner of worldly delights to satisfy his emptiness.[1] Denying himself nothing he saw around him, he concluded that it was all “vanity and striving after the wind.”  Ecclesiastes 2:11b (NASB)

Trying everything, but failing to find joy, Solomon was left hopeless and despondent. “I hated life, for the work which has been done under the sun was grievous to me, because everything is futility and striving after wind.”  Ecclesiastes 2:17 (NASB)

He would later conclude, that God has set eternity in the hearts of men.[2] Solomon had the means to attempt to fill his deep need for satisfaction and joy with all the world has  to offer. None of it worked. At the end of his search, he hated life because he recognized the utter futility of trying to fill the eternal hole in his hearts with anything around him.

God designed our hearts for joy. We were intended to be fulfilled by God  Himself, the fullness of all joy.[3]

Until we realize that true joy and fulfillment comes from God himself, our lives will be endless pursuits of fleeting, temporal, pleasure which only lead to idols and addictions.

If temporal pursuits could fulfill us, wouldn’t those in society who have gained all the success, money and fame possible be the happiest among us? Are they?

Challenging Questions to Ponder: Is there something you’re looking forward to, or hoping for, which you believe will finally bring you fulfillment and happiness? Moving out on you own? Completing college? Getting married? Buying your own house? Getting out of debt? Getting promoted at work? Having children? Starting your own business? Publishing a book? Having good health? Having grandchildren? Retiring? Winning the lottery?

These can be good things, but will they provide lasting fulfillment?

What is the overall goal of your life? Happiness or a growing relationship with the Creator of the Universe?  Desiring happiness is not a bad thing, but true joy is a by product of our relationship with God through Jesus the Christ. It’s how He made us.

Prayer:  Lord, help us not to fall into Solomon’s trap. The glitter of riches, fame, success and pleasure can keep us in a boundless pursuit of fool’s gold. If we could carry this quest to the ends that Solomon did, we too would find it a vain pursuit, a chasing after the wind. Lord, may we seek you, the pearl of great value, worthy of our all.[4] 

 What is the chief end of man?  Man’s chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy him for ever.   (From The Westminster Shorter Catechism,completed in 1647 by the Westminster Assembly)

[1] Ecclesiastes 2:1-10

[2] Ecclesiastes 3:11

[3] Psalm 16:11b

[4] Matthew 13:46

Rivers of Living Water

Thirsty?

Leave a comment

As a kid, I loved neighborhood football games with my friends. We’d all dress up in our pads, donning our favorite team’s helmet. Mine was a white Baltimore Colt helmet, with royal blue horseshoes painted above the ear holes and Johnny Unitas’ number 19 on the back.

When I ride by our old neighborhood today, the friend’s yard we played in looks so small. However, we wore ourselves out chasing each other up and down the field in the heat of many a South Carolina afternoon. And, on the rare occasion when it snowed, we’d play smear the man with the ball.

At “half time” and at the end of the game we’d all line up to guzzle water from the garden hose attached to my friend’s house. To this day, the satisfaction of quenching my dry, parched throat with what seemed like gallons of gushing, cool water, is still etched in my memory.

Now that I think back on it, the water probably wasn’t that cold, but we relished the refreshing running water.

We were thirsty.

Addressing thirst, Jesus once said, “If any man is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, ‘From his innermost being shall flow rivers of living water.” John 7:37b-38

Whether we realize it or not, we were created with a longing for more, a deep thirst.

The wisest man in the world once wrote that God  put eternity in the hearts of men.[1]

The plan is for our great thirst to be quenched by God himself, but so many of us have filled our lives with so much crap, we don’t even know we’re thirsty.

Perhaps that’s why Jesus said, “if” any man is thirsty.

If we’ve crammed our lives with possessions, achievements, pleasures, popularity and other earthly treasures, we may not even know we need Jesus.

However, nothing but Jesus comes close to satisfying our hearts.

When we realize this, we can move past the “if”.

Jesus invites us to “come and drink”.

Jesus wants us to recognize his presence and to draw near to him. He wants us to drink deeply and quench our thirst with his great love. He doesn’t want our lives to be filled with arduous self-effort, he wants our lives to be filled with him. When this is true, we can live lives of overflow.

Do you know you’re thirsty?

Come to Jesus and drink.

Drink of his nearness and his love. Rest in what he has done for you and yield to his Holy Spirit in you. When we recognize our tremendous need for him and depend upon him for our every word and deed, he will teach us to love others as he’s loved us.

Prayer: Lord Jesus, I’ve not always been thirsty for you. I’ve chased after worldly dreams and pleasures thinking they would satisfy me. But each empty pursuit only makes the longing grow. I know now that I’ve been thirsty for you all my life. Teach me how to drink deeply of your love. I want my life to be a life of overflow. Please flow from my life like Rivers of Living Water, that all who are in my path will be blessed and loved by you. Amen.

[1] Ecclesiastes 3:11