The pleasures of this world will never satisfy your desires.
Psalms 63:1-3 O God, You are my God; I earnestly search for You. My soul thirsts for You; my whole body longs for You in this parched and weary land where there is no water. 2 I have seen You in Your sanctuary and gazed upon Your power and glory. 3 Your unfailing love is better than life itself; how I praise You!
It seems like every time you get a receipt there is an invite to take a survey and let somebody know about your experience. Most companies that you do business with want to be sure that you are pleased with the experience. If we are unhappy then somebody is going to hear about it.
Sometimes we approach God the same way, we expect him to make us happy and to give us a better life, we expect service from him and if we don't get it then we will be giving him a bad review. God doesn't have any comment cards or online surveys to fill out and there isn't a chance to win a prize for giving him our opinion.
You would probably think that there wasn't any reason for discontent back in the Garden of Eden but you would be wrong. It is difficult to imagine how it was living life before the effects of sin damaged everything. Life in the garden included daily walks with God, no struggle for food and huge beast that meant you no harm.
Even in the most ideal circumstances man's desire to be in control and to get more for himself was still present. As far as we know, there was only one rule to live by in the garden, eat from any tree that you want except for the one that God said was off limits. It sounds easy enough but we have all been led astray just as easy as Adam and Eve were.
God was angry because Adam took the gifts of God and used them for his own purposes, so that he became his own god.We act like God's purpose is to make us happy and content but that is not a priority for him. It sounds absurd to say it but in reality that is the way that we behave. Our consumer mentality follows us to church and we expect the church to serve us.
We want more and more of the things that do not satisfy as if it will someday be enough. We want to control what we have and how much we have instead of looking to him to satisfy.
This lack of contentment is behind our fat stomachs, our adulterous relationships, and our excessive drive to put more money in the bank. Our desire for pleasure is out of control because we do not get our desires fulfilled by the infinite source of pleasure.
Psalms 34:8 Taste and see that the LORD is good. Oh, the joys of those who take refuge in Him!We need to develop an appetite for the one that created our appetites in the first place. If we really know him and love him then we will desire him and let go of our desire to be indulged by lesser things.
I need to be anxious for opportunities to meet with God, to be excited to spend a few more minutes talking to him and studying the Bible, I need to redirect my cravings to the source if satisfaction that my soul longs for.
Psalms 23:5 You prepare a feast for me in the presence of my enemies. You honor me by anointing my head with oil. My cup overflows with blessings.My earthly desires need to fade away as I present myself as a living sacrifice. I will be content with less of the toys that the world seeks to have and I need to be satisfied by giving instead of getting more.
I need to give away my time, talents and treasures for the work of the gospel. I wasn't blessed with all of these things so that I can store them up and use them for myself. I have been given much so that I can accomplish much for the sake of the gospel.
