1 John 1:15-17 Message Bible
"Don't love the world's ways. Don't love the world's goods. Love of the world squeezes out love for the Father. Practically everything that goes on in the world-wanting your own way, wanting everything for yourself, wanting to appear important--has NOTHING to do with the Father. It just isolates you from Him. The world and all its wanting, wanting, wanting is on the way out...but whoever does what God wants is SET FOR ETERNITY!"
The word "satisfied" is not something that we are ever really encouraged to be in our society! We are encouraged to actually be dissatisfied enough with our lives to constantly keep us wanting the next best amazing thing out there. It doesn't matter what it is, if we have a brand new car we are made to feel it is already "old news" by the next year when the new model comes out. You may have a perfectly good iPhone 5 but now, that is TRASH and you feel you better rush right out to get the 6 and wait in a 24 hour line to do it!
Maybe you just got into college, everyone will want to know what your major will be and what you want to do with the REST of your life. If you are graduating college, everyone wants to know when you will be getting married. If you just got married everyone wants to know when you are having a baby. Once you have the baby, everyone asks you what pre-school you will send them to!! You might have just come home from a vacation, but you are already dreaming of the next one. By the end of the school year you can't wait for summer and one month in everyone says, "I can't wait for fall!" What is the deal here? Why do we struggle being actually present in the day and season we are in? Why does it seem we struggle so much for genuine satisfaction and contentment in our lives?
I am so glad you asked! Satisfaction is defined as the fulfillment of one's wishes, expectations or needs, or the pleasure derived from this. Okay, now we are beginning to see where we may be getting it all wrong. Words like, fulfillment of one's wishes, expectations, needs and pleasure all have to do with ME what I want, what I think and what I feel! The passage above in 1 John lays it out in a strong way when it basically says to do the opposite of what I want, what I think and what I feel...that things things are on the way OUT.
Loving the world and what it has and tells us we need will constantly leave us in a continual place of restlessness in our lives! Ultimately, everything that is marketed to us by our society that promises peace, fulfillment and pleasure is a short lived illusion. Yet we tend to keep falling for the idea that if we just get that one job, or get that perfect house, or find that perfect guy or girl all would be right with the world. Living our lives this way will always set us up for disillusionment and emptiness!
1 John says, "Do not love the world's ways. Do not love the world's goods. Love of the world squeezes out the love of the Father." The more we fill our lives with the things we think will fill up what is empty on the inside, the less room we have for Jesus to really step in and do the real work of giving us what we need most of all, His never ending, all consuming LOVE. We long to feel loved and have a sense of belonging so we start filling up our lives with things that squeeze out the only One who really offers this kind of love! This is really what it all comes down to isn't it?
When we find ourselves wanting our own way all the time and wanting to appear important... (Selfie Society) we have to stop for a minute and ask God to reveal what is really going on, "God, what is this about in me right now?" "What is it that I am trying to fill? " "Why do I feel like I need to do 'this' all the time to feel good at all in my life?" Chances are, when we are running down a road of wanting all the time, we aren't feeling especially close to Jesus. 1 John says that these things actually isolate us from Him. Why is this? Because there is way too much self-focus and not enough God focus!
Here's the amazing thing, when you begin to make the shift and turn your eyes upon Jesus there is a peace that comes over your heart and mind that cannot happen through any other means! In that moment the cycle comes to a screeching halt and we can get off that exhausting wheel. When life becomes all about amassing wealth and keeping up with having all of the best things and being the most important person in the room, we actually miss out on knowing THE most important person, Jesus Christ.
One of the best revelations you can ever have happens when you realize that the ONLY thing that lasts forever is Jesus! The world with all it's wanting, wanting, wanting is on it's way out. But, if we can lock into what Hebrews 13:8 says we will have a life of true fulfillment no matter what season we are in. Hebrews 13:8 says, "Jesus Christ is the SAME, YESTERDAY, TODAY AND FOREVER!" True satisfaction comes when we find out what pleases the Lord and then build our whole life around that. (Eph. 5:10) The bible tells us that when we do this, we are living in a way that will never leave us high and dry, irrelevant and pushed to the curb! Instead we realize in this moment that we actually hold within our hands the PEARL of GREAT PRICE and that we are set for eternity! If we have Jesus? We have everything.
