Isaiah 55:2 “Why spend money on what is not bread, and your labour on what does not satisfy?”
God’s alternative to the above is: “Come to me…Eat what is good, and your soul will delight in the richest of fare.” (verses 2,3) Our perennial problem in seeking lasting satisfaction is that we look to the gifts rather than the Giver. Pleasures derived from material gifts are fleeting if they don’t have a spiritual and eternal dimension to them. Indeed at some level we will always experience some dissatisfaction in this life, as C.S.Lewis explains: “If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world.” However, in terms of making the most of our time here on earth, he continues: “I have discovered that the people who believe most strongly in the next life do the most good in the present one.”
So what will satisfy? J. Campbell White writes: “Most men are not satisfied with the permanent output of their lives. Nothing can wholly satisfy the life of Christ within his followers except the adoption of Christ’s purpose toward the world he came to redeem. Fame, pleasure and riches are but husks and ashes in contrast with the boundless and abiding joy of working with God for the fulfillment of his eternal plans. The men who are putting everything into Christ’s undertaking are getting out of life its sweetest and most priceless rewards.”
‘Working with God for the fulfilment of his eternal plans’ – that will look very different for each one of us. It could be in the context of church but for most of us it will be beyond that, as we live out our calling for God in the work-place, down our street, and in our family. God has wired you with certain skills and passions that can be harnessed for him.
Lord, take me and use me. I seek to pursue lasting satisfaction in you and lasting fruit for you. Amen!
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