Things Will Never Fill Us Up
Again the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. “All this I will give you,” he said, “if you will bow down and worship me.”
Jesus said to him, “Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.’”
-- Matthew 4:8-10
What are you craving right now? Are you lusting after a giant piece of chocolate cake? Do you want a new car? Or maybe those designer boots you saw online? Maybe more than anything else you’d like two tickets to a major college football game?
Whatever it is that you want, you’re just following that American dream. It’s what we’re programmed for at birth. To want bigger and better. To have more than we’ve ever dreamed of having and certainly more than we could possibly ever use. It’s no wonder that the storage building business is booming.
Pastor Danny recently told us about the worship chip each of us have inside our bodies. God created us with something akin to a homing devise so that we’ll always be seeking Him. The thing is, only God can fill us up inside. But that doesn’t stop us from trying every other way we can to make it happen.
That desperate attempt to satisfy the worship chip leads to two awful conditions: Affluenza and Credititus. Those two conditions frequently go together. Either is enough to send us into a downward financial spiral from which we might not recover.
It all goes back to that American dream and what society tells us we have to have to be happy. It’s isn’t enough to have a nice house in a safe neighborhood. We’ve got to want a better house in an affluent neighborhood. We’ve got to have a new car even when the old one runs just fine. We’ve got to go on a fabulous vacation when a trip to the beach a short drive away would be just as enjoyable.
Unfortunately, the only way to afford all that stuff that society tells us we have to have leads to using credit cards again and again. We don’t think too much about it. Pulling out a piece of plastic just doesn’t have the same impact as paying with cash. It lets us forget, at least for a little while, that we’re digging a hole for ourselves and for our future.
Satan tempted Jesus, promising Him everything the world offered. And Jesus said no. Jesus understood that no amount of things could ever replace God when it comes to filling us up inside.
It is possible to just say no. It is possible to walk away. To be content with what you have. To give a little more to those in need. To spend more time with Jesus and less with the world and its ridiculous demands. To fill yourself up with God’s love and know that you are complete right where you are.
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