When a multimillionaire was
asked, “How much more money do you really need to make you happy?” his response
was, “Just a little more.” Sadly, this
self-fulfilling kind of thinking represents a host of people that are looking
for happiness in things. They live from
paycheck to paycheck in a never-ending quest to purchase something that will
satisfy the longing they have inside them.
The lack of stability is present
in everyday living, while their endless search for joy continues. This unfulfilled yearning is burdensome,
yielding nothing more than a self-imposed prison—a confinement that can become
compulsive and obsessive in nature.
It is an effort in futility to
fill the void within their world of unhappiness. The fact is this: things cannot provide
lasting satisfaction or magically promote success in one’s search for
contentment. It just won’t happen. The desire for more stuff repeats itself again
as soon as the newness of an item begins to fade. Interest dissipates and joy declines.
Even though this habit
persists, ongoing purchases of more stuff will not allow the seeker of peace to
exclaim, “Eureka, I have found it!”
Lasting happiness eludes them when they depend on material things to
bring calmness to their search.
Materialism lacks satisfying substance to produce longevity of
enjoyment. Contentment in things is
temporal and fleeting, nothing lasting.
Looking for a new high that
involves buying more stuff can be a sign that the person is dissatisfied with
the status quo of everyday living. They
lack serenity in their soul, wanting something more out of life but not finding
it.
Perhaps you know someone that
leans heavily on material gain as their moral compass for obtaining or trying
to maintain happiness. It just won’t happen. It’s like a thirst that cannot be
quenched. The temporary enjoyment of a
new purchase is quickly interrupted when the reality of life knocks at the door
of their dissatisfied heart and says, “Your short time high is over.” Satisfaction is always short-lived in things.
I know from past experiences,
before I found what I was looking for, emptiness followed me everywhere. My disappointed soul continued to navigate
through life wanting more, just a little more, but my efforts for success were
in vain. If things cannot fill the
emptiness within, then what can? Christ
was the answer. When I met Jesus, He
satisfied all of me.
I see in my mind’s eye people
searching for meaning to life as they grasp straws in a whirlpool of
dissatisfaction. They rent U-Haul
trailers to haul purchases from stores to home and transport prized possessions
to self-storage units somewhere.
In my imagination, I watch as
if they rent safe deposit boxes to store more possessions—out of sight and no
longer ponder why happiness didn’t come.
These are things they just had to have, yet they failed to give ongoing
joy shortly after the purchase to the day they were locked away. Obtaining more stuff was their attempt to
satisfy the missing something inside them.
I believe their philosophy,
like the multimillionaire, is just a little more—only to experience a short
time high at best. Their happiness is
based on what money can buy. The
temporary high always slips out the back door even though they try to hold onto
the good feeling. It’s a futile attempt they
have at finally possessing something that gives lasting satisfaction.
This endless cycle they
experience is a repeat of old habits of which fade quickly like vapor. There is nothing on earth that can fill this
empty feeling except a Divine touch of the Master’s hand—Jesus Christ, the Son
of Almighty God.
(Mark 8:36), “For what will
it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?”
Jesus is everlasting joy. In Him is contentment, joy, peace,
satisfaction, fulfillment, abundant living, and eternal life in heaven with the
rest of God’s family. Like the song
says, “Only Jesus can satisfy your soul.”
There is nothing that compares with God’s perfect peace. Jesus is the Prince of Peace. He satisfies the longing in our soul like
nothing else can.
Becoming a child of God is the
supreme satisfaction in this life and the life to come in heaven. This step of faith is called, “the new birth”
and “the born-again experience” that Jesus made possible. He paid the ultimate price for our salvation
when He died on the cross for our sins.
There is nothing more a person
need do to find Peace. Asking God to
forgive our sins is just the beginning of total satisfaction that the world
cannot give. Believing this is called
faith that God instilled within each of us.
We need not be Bible scholars or obtain certain college degrees to
become a Christian—believe in Jesus and receive God’s grace—that’s it.
Trying to obtain more than
Jesus is not necessary to find happiness.
He is more than enough to fulfill the longing in a person’s soul that
things cannot provide. God Almighty is
more than enough. Like the songs say,
“Only Jesus can satisfy your soul” and “His grace is sufficient for me.”
www.wordsfrompapa.blogspot.com
Written by,
Papa Boyd
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