Mowing my yard yesterday, I listened to my mix of 70’s rock and Christian music. My favorite songs speak volumes about my relationship with Christ. In one respect, I still hang on to and enjoy some of great music that predates my relationship with Christ. Christian music has awakened me to the power music has to take me out of my circumstances and refresh my relationship with Christ, but that familiar rock from my teens still makes my heart sing too.
Up comes the song Simple Man by Lynyrd Skynyrd. In with the great rhythm and guitar licks is this last verse
Forget your lust, for the rich man’s gold
All that you need, is in your soul,
And you can do this, oh baby, if you try,
All that I want for you my son,
Is to be satisfied.
True satisfaction can’t come from anything in this world. Many would agree when I say our world, and many of the people in it are broken. But, are we mostly good, with a little bad, or are we mostly bad with a little good? If people are basically good, we just need some help every now and again. We need a better government and a little more money. If we’re basically good, we need fewer obstacles. If I’m basically good, then it would be encouraging to remind me to find satisfaction in my soul.
But the Bible says that when Adam and Eve ate the apple, they died. And the world was placed under a curse. The good we see in people is the good created in us before the curse. But the bad is in our nature under the curse. It’s in every one of us.
“You can’t teach people to be lazy – either they have it, or they don’t.” ~ Dagwood Bumstead
I was created for a relationship with Christ. Part of that relationship is developed daily when I follow what Christ has for me to do. One of those things is glorifying Him, or showing Him off. When I act according to his commands, I show people that I think He is who He claimed to be. I live my life, sacrificing some temporary satisfaction for eternal satisfaction.
You see, the Simple Man’s Mom, wanted her son to be satisfied. I want my family and friends to be satisfied too. But I want them to be satisfied forever; not just for an hour or a year, or even for their whole life on this Earth. Pursuit of short-term satisfaction can prove eternally empty. I think the western church has lost much of its influence because we Christians pursue satisfaction the same way and at the same rate as our non-beliveing friends. We have to minister to people cross-culturally because the people in our culture don’t see our faith as having an impact or making a difference. Said another way, I have lost much of my eternal influence because I pursue satisfaction the same way my non-believing friends do. People can’t tell me from the rest of the world, although I believe differently. If I pursue satisfaction only in this world, I’ll fall short of showing my Savior to my friends and being satisfied for eternity.
The ability to be truly satisfied is in me, but it is because Christ put it there. I don’t want to take that to my grave, without sharing that with my friends. I want to make a difference right here. May God give me opportunities to sacrifice today in a way that will show Him off to my friends.
How about you? Are you energized or convicted by the thought of being different than the people around you? Do you live like you have a different value system, one that’s designed to work for eternity? How can I help you demonstrate your pursuit of eternal satisfaction this week?
Mike Henry Sr. 