Strength for the Week - I Can't Get No Satisfaction... Or Can I?

I Can’t Get No Satisfaction… Or Can I?
I was having a discussion with some friends about working out and eating habits.  After much debate over the best way to burn body fat (I think prayer works the best…), I was asked about my personal eating habits.  Now, as some of you know, I can eat.  No, I can really EAT!  So the question was asked of me if I eat until I’m satisfied, or do I go beyond that.
          This sparked another debate over what it meant to be satisfied when eating.  I mean, I can be hungry, eat one piece of pizza, and I won’t be hungry anymore, but I would hardly be satisfied.  My physical needs being met are not what I equate with satisfaction, especially when it comes to eating (did I mention that I could really eat?).
          And that got me thinking: what about our lives as Christians?  What really satisfies us? 
          Well, the Bible teaches us about satisfaction.  It tells us that it is not to be found in worldly pleasures.  It tells us that it is not to be found in false religions.  It tells us that it is not to be found in any temporal enjoyments.
          We read in the pages of the Gospel according to Matthew: “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.” (Matthew 5:6)  Jesus is telling us that we can only be satisfied if we are first hungry.  But hungry for what?  For righteousness!  Not for our own righteousness, but for the righteousness of Jesus Christ.
          And here we see one of those beautiful paradoxes of being a Christian.  Because we can be satisfied in this life, but only as long as we are hungering for Him and His righteousness.  That very hunger is what brings us satisfaction.  The hunger is what brings us enjoyment in this life.  The hunger is what sets us apart from the world and the pleasures it has to offer.
          John Piper said this about satisfaction (italics is his):
“We love God. He is our great Treasure, and nothing can compare with him. One of the great old catechisms says, "God is a Spirit, infinite, eternal, and unchangeable, in his being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness, and truth." That is the One we love. We love the whole panorama of his perfections. To know him and to be loved by him is the end of our soul's quest for eternal satisfaction. He is infinite; and that answers to our longing for completeness. He is eternal; and that answers to our longing for permanence He is unchangeable; and that answers to our longing for stability and security. There is none like God. Nothing can compare with him. Money, sex, power, popularity, conquest - nothing can compare with God.  The more you know him, the more you want to know him. The more you feast on his fellowship, the hungrier you are for deeper, richer communion. Satisfaction at the deepest levels breeds a holy longing for the time when we will have the very power of God to love God…  Yes, the more you know him and love him and trust him, the more you long to know him… We long to know God and enjoy God. Another great old catechism says, "What is the chief end of man?" And answers: "Man's chief end is to glorify God and enjoy him for ever." We believe that enjoying God is the way to glorify God, because God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in him.”
          Our satisfaction, brothers and sisters, comes not only from knowing Him, but from wanting to know Him more.  Therein is the key to enjoyment and satisfaction as Christians.  So I encourage you: glorify God this week by getting to know Him better, and finding your satisfaction in your very hunger for Him.
Praise God!  (Hey, hey, hey, that’s what I say!)

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