Are You Getting What You Want?
July 12, 2012 - We Christians have talked so much about the negative side of Christian experience that we have forgotten to emphasize the positive, joyous, thrilling and victorious experience of daily fellowship with Christ. Read along as Billy Graham reveals how God fills the deepest desires of the human heart.
Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good, and your soul will delight in the richest of fare (Isaiah 55:1-2, NIV).
A Message by Billy Graham
Too many people associate Christianity with restrictions, with arbitrary dos and don'ts and with negative commandments.
Don’t Look For Satisfaction in Rules or Regulations:
Often the Church has banged away negatively at evils but has left men and women empty, without reminding them that God is tremendously interested in our finding a satisfying way of life here and now. We Christians have talked so much about the negative side of Christian experience that we have forgotten to emphasize the positive, joyous, thrilling and victorious experience of daily fellowship with Christ.
Let Go Of The Desire For Endless Pleasures And Amusement:
The prophet Isaiah looked out on a people who longed for happiness and security but were looking for it in the wrong places. They were running to the marketplace and to places of amusement, spending their money madly for things that brought them no permanent satisfaction.
Isaiah stood before them one day and said: "Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat! Why spend money on what is not bread, and your labor on what does not satisfy? Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good, and your soul will delight in the richest of fare" (Isaiah 55:1-2, NIV).
If Isaiah were living today, he would say to the consumers of America who have the best homes, the most comfortable furniture, the finest food, computerized gadgets and sporty, powerful cars: "Are you getting what you want?"
Reflect On Your Actions And Intentions:
Isaiah was also saying that pleasure will not satisfy. Sometimes I think of pleasure-seeking people going to places they do not care for, to drink drinks they do not like, to take their minds off the entertainment they do not enjoy. Isaiah would have asked such people to reflect: "Are you getting what you want here? Does this bring you satisfaction?"
Isaiah did not leave the people with an unanswered question. He exhorted them to abandon their vain searching for mythical pots of gold at the end of rainbows and to start searching for happiness where it is really found. His advice is just as timely and appropriate today as it was then.
Use What You Have Wisely:
It wasn't primarily money against which Isaiah was preaching—it was the wrong use of it. "Why squander your hard-earned money for that which is not bread?" he said. "Why squander your hard-earned money for that which brings no satisfaction?"
Solomon, who acquired more property, more knowledge and more fame than any man who ever lived, testified that all this brought him no permanent satisfaction. He lamented: "Meaningless! Meaningless! ... Utterly meaningless! Everything is meaningless" (Ecclesiastes 1:2).
Listen To What God Is Saying:
The next truth in the prophet Isaiah's message is this: God satisfies! "Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good, and your soul will delight in the richest of fare. Give ear and come to me; hear me, that your soul may live" (Isaiah 55:2-3).
Jesus said to the dejected, rejected, thirsty, unsatisfied Samaritan woman: "Whoever drinks the water I give [her] will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give [her] will become in [her] a spring of water welling up to eternal life" (John 4:14).
Repent, And Receive God’s Free Gift of Grace:
Just as the body of a person cannot live without water, the spirit of a man or woman cannot be satisfied apart from God. It is not a religious cliché when we say: "God satisfies." He alone can satisfy our spiritual thirst.
This is the secret of soul satisfaction: Remove the obstructions, tear down the barriers, and let your soul find the fulfillment of its deepest longings in fellowship with God.
I could tell you of many people who explored every earthly resource for happiness and failed, but eventually came in repentance and faith to Christ and in Him found satisfaction.
God said another significant thing [through Isaiah]: "Come, buy ... without money and without cost" (Isaiah 55:1). He was saying, "Salvation is free!" So I challenge you: You, who have spent your money for that which is not bread and your labor for what doesn't satisfy, come and receive this life-giving, soul-satisfying commodity fresh from the hand of God—salvation through Jesus Christ our Lord!
Delight In God’s Love:
This offer is for everyone: "All you who are thirsty, come to the waters" (Isaiah 55:1). God's grace leaps over racial barriers, skips across class distinctions, soars over social bars and finds its way to every hungry, languishing soul—to every class, caste, race, color and nation.
Are you getting what you want out of life? Have you found peace and satisfaction? Don't spend your money, your time and your moral resources for that which will never satisfy. God gave His only Son that you might find peace and reconciliation. Turn your life over to God today »
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Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version. ©1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved.
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