What Really Satisfies

The desire to enjoy the good things of life is not wrong in and of itself, for God “gives us richly all things to enjoy” (1 Timothy 6:17). Other passages of Scripture welcome us to take pleasure in the eating of food (Ecclesiastes 2:24), having good friends (Mark 5:19; Acts 10:24), and enjoying healthy marriage relationships (Proverbs 5:18). But thinking that we can find “lasting” pleasure in people and things is ultimately an empty pursuit, as Solomon discovered in Ecclesiastes 2:10-11:

“Whatever my eyes desired I did not keep from them. I did not withhold my heart from any pleasure, for my heart rejoiced in all my labor; And this was my reward from all my labor. Then I looked on all the works that my hands had done And on the labor in which I had toiled; And indeed all was vanity and grasping for the wind. There was no profit under the sun.”

It’s no wonder then that Solomon warned, “He who loves pleasure will be a poor man” (Proverbs 21:17).

What folks are really looking for in life, is satisfied only in a fulfilling and growing spiritual relationship with our Lord. We can only experience that close relationship “in Christ.”

Knowing the above information, let us "fix our eyes on Jesus." (Hebrews 12:2 NASB).

—Mike Riley, Gospel Snippets