I've been doing a lot of thinking the last few days on what it means to be satisfied with life. It is amazing how difficult it can be to try to find true satisfaction. I have so many blessings, and yet I often find myself seeking for something to "bring that sensation of pleasure and joy" into my life.
Sometimes it is food. I love food. And usually it is chocolate or sweets or some favorite food that I want to devour and eat as much as possible. This, of course, is silly because it is so temporary, and I end up just being upset that I stuffed myself. Consequently, I go and exercise extra hard to burn off what I just ate. Definitely silly.
Sometimes it is entertainment, especially movies. I love movies, and there is nothing wrong with that, but often I seek those things are a way to distract me from those things in life that get me down (relational struggles, stress, etc.). I get lost in the story for the 1.5 or 2 hours (or more if it is the Lord of The Rings Special Extended Edition which I just finished watching :-) ), but then the reality of life returns.
Sometimes it is relationships. I love my wife and children dearly. I have some friends. But my wife and I can argue or just frustrate each other. Children are fun, but can be trying. Friends are great, but they are often not available or can be hard to connect with. Ultimately, though often satisfying, they can also leave me wanting more.
These things seem to satisfy, but they never last. They are so temporary, so transient. You have to keep going back again, and again, and again. It has been an ongoing cycle.
Then the Lord brought me to Jeremiah 2:13 today, where He says: For My people have committed two evils: They have forsaken Me, the fountain of living waters, to hew for themselves cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water.
That was it! The problem is that, even though I mediate on Him and talk with Him, I was really looking to these other things for satisfaction and not Him. I never drank from Him, the fountain of living waters! I turned to the cisterns of movies and food and entertainment for satisfaction, when all I needed was Him.
All it needed was a simple shift in perspective. Of course He is the fountain of living water. Blaise Pascal himself said that there was a God-shaped hold in everyone's heart. Yet I was trying to put the square peg of earthly joys into the "round hole" only God could fill in my heart.
This allows me to enjoy the relationships and things of life without getting "bummed" by what is lacking in them. So my relationships aren't perfect. So what. They cannot ultimately satisfy anyway. Only He can. So I can't eat all the tastie goodies I want without getting fat. Just enjoy some. They cannot fill that emptiness anyway. And so on. It applies to everything.
The challenge now is to keep to that perspective and not fall back. Falling back is easy, but by His grace I will triumph! He has granted me eternal life through His Son. He has provided me His Spirit. He has promised me heaven no matter what happens. He is there, ever ready to listen and to talk with me. How can I not find Him satisfying? All I need do it let go of the empty cisterns that cannot hold water and grab onto Him!
Easier said then done? Perhaps. Let's see how it goes ;-).
Saturday, December 30, 2006
Never enough time?
In our society today there are so many options for filling up our time, it is incredible.
The greatest demand on our time is our work, which dominates most of our life. There are then the demands of managing life (house maintenance, car maintenance, shopping, cooking, health maintenance). There never seems to be enough time one can dedicate to these things to complete them to one's satisfaction. And they never go away. Whatever you achieve, there is always more to do. It is endless.
Where, then, are the times for the important things? Where is time for God, for family, for feeding one's self? Where is the time required to spend doing and enjoying those things that are necessary for the soul, those things that make life worth living? And I'm not talking about entertainment, which is yet another stealer of time.
Are we doomed, in our fast-paced, ambitious society, to spend all of our time on the stuff of life necessary to run it and never have enough time for the stuff of life necessary to make it all worth while? I struggle with this question. I really do.
It may seem odd for one who is taking time to blog to talk about there never being enough time, but what I've learned (which is one of the reasons I've started this blog) is that the issue isn't one of there being enough time. The issue is that we make choices about how are spend our time that lead us into not having enough time for the important things.
Ephesians 5:16 says making the most of your time, because the days are evil. In our society today there are many time stealers, but it is up to us to decide where and how we spend it. Yes, we have to spend a certain amount of time working and managing life (food, housing, etc.). But what we do with the rest of our time is our choice.
Will we waste it on empty things or will we invest it in important things? Entertainment is great. I enjoy a good movie. But if we spend all of our time doing that, when will we spend time with God, with our spouses, with our children, with our friends? When will we be able to spend time to educate ourselves and smell the roses?
There is so much beauty in creation to enjoy, and many gifts God has given in the people around us. The ultimate gift is what He has given in Himself and His Son, Jesus Christ.
We should make sure we are investing enough of our time in what is important. There should be time to do what the psalmist said in Psalm 26:7: That I may proclaim with the voice of thanksgiving and declare all Your wonders.
The greatest demand on our time is our work, which dominates most of our life. There are then the demands of managing life (house maintenance, car maintenance, shopping, cooking, health maintenance). There never seems to be enough time one can dedicate to these things to complete them to one's satisfaction. And they never go away. Whatever you achieve, there is always more to do. It is endless.
Where, then, are the times for the important things? Where is time for God, for family, for feeding one's self? Where is the time required to spend doing and enjoying those things that are necessary for the soul, those things that make life worth living? And I'm not talking about entertainment, which is yet another stealer of time.
Are we doomed, in our fast-paced, ambitious society, to spend all of our time on the stuff of life necessary to run it and never have enough time for the stuff of life necessary to make it all worth while? I struggle with this question. I really do.
It may seem odd for one who is taking time to blog to talk about there never being enough time, but what I've learned (which is one of the reasons I've started this blog) is that the issue isn't one of there being enough time. The issue is that we make choices about how are spend our time that lead us into not having enough time for the important things.
Ephesians 5:16 says making the most of your time, because the days are evil. In our society today there are many time stealers, but it is up to us to decide where and how we spend it. Yes, we have to spend a certain amount of time working and managing life (food, housing, etc.). But what we do with the rest of our time is our choice.
Will we waste it on empty things or will we invest it in important things? Entertainment is great. I enjoy a good movie. But if we spend all of our time doing that, when will we spend time with God, with our spouses, with our children, with our friends? When will we be able to spend time to educate ourselves and smell the roses?
There is so much beauty in creation to enjoy, and many gifts God has given in the people around us. The ultimate gift is what He has given in Himself and His Son, Jesus Christ.
We should make sure we are investing enough of our time in what is important. There should be time to do what the psalmist said in Psalm 26:7: That I may proclaim with the voice of thanksgiving and declare all Your wonders.
Friday, December 29, 2006
Welcome - An Introduction to my blog
Welcome everyone to my new, main blog.
This is my place on the web to share my thoughts on living life. Life is both filled with joys as well as challenges and struggles. How does one navigate one's way through life? How does one react to its blessings and its evils?
Discussion of these ideas is my purpose in this blog, and my discussions will come from a Christian and Biblical worldview. All comments are welcomed, from all faiths and all worldviews. I look forward to the discussion. I ask only that we respect one another. Disagreeing is not a sign of closemindedness, but anger or insults or name calling are.
Why is my blog called "White Robe"? It is derived from verses such as Mark 16:5 and Rev 7:9 (NASB). These verses talk of those who are God's being garbed in white robes. Specifically, those who belong to the Lamb have been cleansed by His blood and now are white as snow. Robes of white symbolize the perfection all believers have through Jesus Christ alone, through faith in Him alone.
This is my place on the web to share my thoughts on living life. Life is both filled with joys as well as challenges and struggles. How does one navigate one's way through life? How does one react to its blessings and its evils?
Discussion of these ideas is my purpose in this blog, and my discussions will come from a Christian and Biblical worldview. All comments are welcomed, from all faiths and all worldviews. I look forward to the discussion. I ask only that we respect one another. Disagreeing is not a sign of closemindedness, but anger or insults or name calling are.
Why is my blog called "White Robe"? It is derived from verses such as Mark 16:5 and Rev 7:9 (NASB). These verses talk of those who are God's being garbed in white robes. Specifically, those who belong to the Lamb have been cleansed by His blood and now are white as snow. Robes of white symbolize the perfection all believers have through Jesus Christ alone, through faith in Him alone.
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