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| Satisfaction |
| Dee Bowman |
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We are a grasping society. We want more things.
We want more entertainment. We want more things. We want more
recognition. We want more things. We want more advancement. We
want more things. We want more control. We want more things.
Fact is, we want more things. We’re not satisfied.
There is a sense of frustration which accompanies
dissatisfaction. There is a reason for such frustration. We
tend to try to satisfy with that which can only pacify. We
find things that pacify for a while, but they soon wane and
our thirst reappears with an even fiercer bite to it. Off we
go, searching for some new invention, some new bauble which
will give us some satisfaction, only to find that the same
fierce appetite recurs.
We’re trying to satisfy ourselves with paltry means.
Satisfaction can come only when we feed the whole man--and
with the things He intended. It’s not wrong to have things;
things satisfy. But what about the other appetites we have?
God has given us an intellect. He satisfies the needs
of that intellect by giving us information and by allowing us
to “subdue” the earth (Gen. 1:28). There is a sense of
satisfaction when the mind is given its learning exercise.
When there is no learning man shrivels mentally; he feels
empty, unfilled. Man was made to learn.
God has given us an aesthetic nature. Man naturally
tends toward lovely things. He alone of God’s creatures is
fitted to appreciate the beauty of art, the harmony of music,
the symmetry of fine piece of sculpture, the song of a bird
(Psalm. 19:1-4). God has provided what we need to satisfy this
appetite by giving us beauty in nature, color, harmony,
design, order. When man deprives himself of this natural
tendency he will have a deep feeling of dissatisfaction. Man
was made to appreciate.
God has given us an emotional nature. This basic
characteristic makes him tune in to his surroundings. Emotion
is especially pertinent to human relationships--friendship,
camaraderie, erotica. Man loves, he hates. He laughs, he
cries. He appreciates, he disdains. He hurts, he feels good.
He gets angry, he is passive. “Jesus wept” (Jno. 11:35) is
a statement about his emotional nature. When the situation
calls for it and we don’t cry we’re apt to have it well up
in us until sometime later a veritable emotional explosion
takes place. Furthermore, something is seriously wrong with a
person who sees no humor in life. Contentment is this area is
hard to achieve, but is a supreme satisfaction when it is
achieved. Man is made to feel.
God has given us a soul. This soul must be fed just
like the body (Mt. 4:4). There is a hunger that attends
man’s moral nature just like that which is physical, and
when it is not attended to there is not only an unfulfilled
appetite, but serious consequences may result to the body’s
health. God has given His word to satisfy man’s hunger for
the soul (Jno. 6:35). His conscience cries out to God for
relief out of his recognition of his sins, and God provides (I
Pet. 3:21). “The appeal to God for a clear conscience” is
an effort to satisfy the longing for forgiveness. Worship is
the provision for man’s inherent need for recognition by his
Creator. The local church and its various activities serve to
provide man with the need for spiritual fellowship. Man is
made to glorify God.
With faith God appeals to a man’s intellect. With repentance
He appeals to man’s emotions and will. With obedience (first
baptism, then faithful participation) He appeals to man’s
desire to be recognized and be in fellowship Him.
Special things satisfy special needs. When I’m hungry for
popcorn, only popcorn will satisfy. When I hunger for
exercise, only some strenuous activity will satisfy. When I
long for good music, nothing else will do. When I long for my
beloved Norma, only she can warm my heart. And when I have an
ardent longing for recognition by my Creator, only He and His
methods will answer my needs.
Satisfaction is a fine feeling. Being unfulfilled has a
gnawing effect on a person. The only real satisfaction is that
which comes from the knowledge that you’ve done your best to
serve and reverence God (Eccles. 12:13). After all, that’s
what man is all about.
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Copyright (C)
2008
Southside Church of Christ
All rights reserved.
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