Finding It

We all misplace things.  It can be so annoying.  Have you noticed that whether it is the house keys, the TV remote, the cell phone, or a favorite pair of pliers, we always find it in the last place that we looked?

All joking aside, we find what we are looking for in the last place that we looked because, after we find what we want we stop looking.  It is because our wish has been satisfied. 

However, if the thing that we wanted only provides temporary satisfaction, we are often compelled to look for it again and again.  At my stage of life, it is cookies.  Yet, too many cookies make me fat and mess up my blood chemistry.  That seems to be true of the things of this world, which only bring temporary satisfaction.

Our need for earthly things like food, water, and shelter are physiological, in part.  We must have them in sufficient amounts to ensure survival.  When we desire these things in excess, they can be harmful to our health, relationships, and civic duty.

The pursuit of “earthly pleasures” can be destructive to ourselves and others.  Mind altering drugs and alcohol, tobacco, hoarding, and thrill seeking behavior can seem to be very pleasurable at first.  They seem to enhance life.  In excess, they can bring destruction to our careers, family life, and physical health. Even sex, which is a gift from God, can be destructive if it is misused.

The Holy Spirit inspired James to tell us, “The love of this world is enmity toward God.” (Jas. 4:4, 1Jn. 2:15-17)  Human kind is spiritually dead. (Gen. 3: 16-24, Rom. 5:18-19)  In Christ, however, our spirits have intimate personal fellowship with God’s Spirit. (Rom. 8:26-27, Eph. 3:14-19)  The self-destructive pursuit of things is just a symptom of our need to fill that void.  When you hear Christians say that people need God, this is what they are talking about.

Jesus said:

“Whoever drinks of this water (from a well) will thirst again,

but whoever drinks of the water I shall give him will never thirst.

But the water I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water

springing up into everlasting life.” (Jn. 4:13-14 NKJV)

“I am the bread of life.  He who comes to Me shall never hunger,

and he who believes in Me shall never thirst.”  (Jn. 6:35 NKJV)

“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,

For they shall be filled.”  (Mt. 5:6 NKJV)

Jesus will fill the void within you, that you are trying to fill by indulging in earthly things in excess … without moderation.  Turn to Him and be filled with the Holy Spirit.  The Spirit will take away the desire you have for the things of this world; which lead to destruction.  The Spirit will give you the desire for the things of God and the faith by which you can have them.