(Updated Nov 9, 2005 after Hurricane Katrina) Solomon in his wisdom wrote: Why is Solomon's statement above so true? The picture above is of a cold, baby, "Snow Monkey", a Japanese Macaque, who is desperately waiting his turn to sit in one of the hot spring pools of water that dot his frozen habitat. Many people are like these Macaques, sitting around, miserably waiting, and hoping for something to relieve the pain and difficulties of this fallen, broken world. Other people live hyper lives that often look like a rat in a running wheel, racing after some illusive pleasure. Watching the little rodents in those wheels always reminds me of the song "Can't Get No Satisfaction". Have you noticed that from toddlers fighting over a toy, to an addict begging for a fix, to a married couple arguing over who controls the money, to nations bombing one another over a piece of land, it's not really love, but desire that controls the affairs of men. Our whole "global village" seems lost in a search for joy and fulfillment, but the world is looking in all the wrong places. In blind, almost obsessive pursuit, it can't find it's way home - to real peace. The only way home is the Gospel, the way of submissive faith under the authority of our Creator God the Father, exemplified in the life and saving death of His Son, Jesus our Messiah. (see the article"God's Way Home) When one of our son's was seven and on his way to his sixth heart
surgery, he began to really understand this truth.
Jesus warned that our real heart attitude, beneath our actions and affect, is revealed when the painful pressures of life squeeze us. In Mat 15:19, Jesus said that out of the heart flow all of the issues of life (thoughts, words, actions). Think about it. When you squeeze a toothpaste tube, it's not peanut butter that comes out. The squeezing just revealed what was inside. If a person is drawing from the Lord in humble, submissive faith then the fruit of God's Holy Spirit comes pouring forth. But if its the fruit of the flesh (Gal 5) that comes to the surface, it simply proves that the heart was pursuing something less than God. For some people it might be drugs, for others it could be food, sex, money, toys, power, esteem, attention, or even another person. But, anything that is less than God, no matter how superficially and temporarily pleasurable, is an idol that can never satisfy. In fact, it eventually becomes boring. So the person trying to use it for fulfillment has to use more of it, and ultimately go after something stronger or more perversely destructive in order to get the same rush of fleeting pleasure that was previously experienced. Even if someone through will-power puts off an addictive behavior, without putting on (Eph 4:21-24) the attitudes and behaviors that come from the will submitted to Christ, then an empty vacuum is left that pulls them back into the old pattern. The problem is not the thing the person uses, but the heart motive that seeks to love and please self above God and neighbor (Mat 22:36-40; Romans 12:1-3; Rev 12:11). A person might not like who he is, but everyone loves himself from the moment he is born. One trip to an "all you can eat restaurant" proves this universal truth (Eph 5:29).
Satisfaction comes only when the "river of living water", God's Holy Spirit, is flowing - through a born-again heart - then out to others in love who are thirsty for satisfaction (John 7:37-39). Far too often, Christians function like stagnant pools, forgetting that it's better to give than to receive (John 3:16). We need to counsel (disciple) one another so that our attitudes and actions become more and more in sync with the Lord's self-sacrificial will. Real joy comes only when we pray for our Father to burden our hearts with people, families, and ministries that we can bless in tangible ways. Only by turning our focus away from self, onto the desires of Jesus and the genuine needs of others can anyone find fulfillment. This is what it means to be filled full and overflowing with His Holy Spirit.
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