The list could go on, but what do all of these things have in common? These are all things that we turn to for peace. I have seen teenager after teenager come to camp with no joy, no peace, and no hope. The human heart is searching. It's searching to fill an emptiness. It is looking for some satisfaction, some acceptance, some love. It's searching to fill a hole, but that hole is God-shaped. It can only be filled by Him.
If I had to pinpoint one lesson for the whole summer, it would be this: God is sufficient. Colossians 2:10a says, "And ye are complete in him." I found this verse after a couple weeks of singing "Complete in Thee" every Thursday night. I was curious where exactly this song came from, and this verse was perfect! It talks of how everything is found in Christ. If we were to just stop and think about everything God offers us, it should change the entire course of our lives. (I'll share more about that in a later post.)
The question is this: "Is God really everything to you?" It is so easy to just turn to everything else around us. We like to trust what we can see, but all of this is only temporary. Christ offers us everlasting life, incomprehensible peace, and abundance of joy (John 3:16, Philippians 4:7, 1 John 1:4). Why do we even try to turn to any of what this world offers?
Now, you may not struggle with anything that we think of as a serious problem, but anything that we put ahead of God is our idol (Exodus 20:3). It becomes our mini god. And we deny God of the love and glory He wants and deserves from us. It's so easy to get caught up in the flow of this life. We have to constantly be filling our mind with God through His Word so that we can be focused on Him. Otherwise, we will fail miserably. But, God gives us His grace day be day to do just what He requires of us. He will help us develop our ultimate satisfaction in Him alone.
Add "good" works or "good" behavior to that list! When tempted to validate my own worth in an attempt to find peace I often turn to doing works that I believe to be "good" or "right". But the Bible calls them filthy rags because they're worthless. My efforts become my idol and instead of accepting who I am in Christ I settle for much less.
ReplyDeleteThat is absolutely true! I struggle with the same thing! It's so easy to just focus on ourselves and not God and everything He has already done for us!
ReplyDelete