Being Completely Satisfied

As I reflect on the past and even examine my life now, I often find that I become consumed with whatever is going on in my life at that time. I will focus all of my thoughts and attention to this matter until it is resolved. To give you a few examples, at one point in my life, all I wanted was to be out of my parents house, then it was that I just waned to graduate high school, next I wanted to graduate college, after that I could not wait to get engaged, that turned into I couldn't wait to get married, then if I could just have children everything would be fine. I thought all of these were life and death matters at that time. If I could only get that 'one' thing in my life, I would be happy and satisfied. But when I lie awake at night for hours, not able to sleep because I am thinking about what I want my future house to be like, something is wrong. The fact is that when I get that 'one' thing, something else will soon replace it. “The evil in our desire typically does not lie in what we want, but that we want it too much.” (John Calvin) This is sin.

Tim Keller said that "Sin isn’t only doing bad things, it is more fundamentally making good things into ultimate things. Sin is building your life and meaning on anything, even a very good thing, more than on God. Whatever we build our life on will drive us and enslave us. Sin is primarily idolatry."

When I look back on my life, I am disgusted at the way I let things consume me. Because I was made in the image of God, I will worship, in fact I must worship, someone or something.

         What do I love?

         What do I want, desire, crave, lust and wish for?

         What do I seek, aim for, pursue?

         What do I think I need?

         Where do I find refuge, safety, comfort, escape, pleasure, security?

If I answer anything but Jesus, I have made for myself an idol. Jesus is the only thing that is going to satisfy my desires. This world does not revolve around me and what I want, but sometimes I think that if I had more money, or more friends, or a nicer car or clothes, that I would be happy. Still, after I get what I think I want, my happiness fades quickly and I am soon left feeling empty again. I find that I have to daily (even hourly) remind myself not to get so wrapped up in trivial matters. The truth is that if I were to never have gotten married, never been able to have children, never be able to have my own house and have to live with my parents forever, His Gospel would be enough.

The Gospel says, ‘God accepts you just as Christ is. God has ‘contraconditional’ love for you.’ Christ bears the curse you deserve. Christ is fully pleasing to the Father and gives you His own perfect goodness. Christ reigns sin power, making you the Father’s child and coming close to you to begin to change what is unacceptable to God about you. God never accepts me ‘as I am.’ He accepts me ‘as I am in Jesus Christ.’ (David Powlison)

Becuase God has shown his favor to us, He sent His son to redeem us, Because I am redeemed, I have everything I will ever need in Christ.