This morning I am reminded of one of my
favorite all time you tube clips from Louis CK. He was on Conan talking about how spoiled this new generation is and how we all take
things for granted. As far as I know, he
is an atheist, but he shares some unbelievable truth. No matter how many things we acquire, no
matter how many opportunities we receive, we are never happy. There is always something to complain about
and always something we feel we need to strive for to fulfill our lives. The things of this world never bring
contentment, no matter how much we have.
I had some great discussion today with a
short team from the United States. One
of them posed to Domingo, born and raised in the Ixil region of Guatemala: “What
are the things you noticed when you came to study in the United States for the
first time?”
Domingo replied: “Oh man, all the
opportunities. There was so much
opportunity. Also, when I ate at
restaurants and people only ate a little of their food and the rest was thrown
into the garbage. This was unbelievable
to me because we never had that much food. “
While it is true people in the United
States do not recognize all the opportunities and abundance we have, he
switched it around and said the same is true of Guatemalans.
“When I was in Canada, there was frost on
the ground 7 months out of the year. But
still, there was abundance, they used that land and grew food for
themselves. In Guatemala, we can grow
things 365 days out of the year, but people live in poverty and do not
recognize the opportunity that is here.
This land is beautiful and can be used tourism and for so many
things. Sometimes Kara and I want to go
out for a hike because the mountains are so beautiful, people here do not see
that.”
Why are we never satisfied with what we
have? One of the guys said one time he
pondered all day why, of all things, Adam and Eve realized they were naked
after eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. The thing God pressed on him was the two
commandments Jesus said satisfied all the law.
Love
the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and strength. Love your neighbor as yourself.
In these things you do not look at yourself
or your happiness but in loving God and others.
After eating the fruit, Adam and Eve realized they were naked because
their focus had turned inward. They saw
themselves. No longer did love govern
their actions, but selfishness.
What does this have to do with nobody being
content with what they have?
Everything. Just the act of
seeking happiness for ourselves is a selfish ambition. In true love, there is no self seeking.
Love
does not seek its own (1 Corinthians 13:5)
By
this we know love, because He laid down His life for us. And we also ought to lay down our lives for
our brethren. (1 John 3:16)
For
whoever desires to save his live will lose it, but whoever loses his life for
My sake will find it (Matthew 16:25)
No matter how much we have, we will never
be satisfied if we keep seeking things for ourselves. I spend a lot of time pondering my purpose
and this also is self seeking. I want
God to reveal a role for me that I will be happy in, and while this can
masquerade as holiness, it is also selfish.
When I pray to the Lord about these things, the response is always
something along the lines of “lay down your life.” This includes my purpose because it is not
about me. It is about God. It is His purpose I should be concerned
about. I could spend my whole life
seeking after this purpose that would fulfill my life, and in the end
accomplish nothing. Instead, on a daily
basis, I could love God. I could love
others. This is what the He tells us to
do through His word. It is not that
complicated, yet our sins of looking inward greatly distract us and lead us
into confusion.
Do you seek your own happiness in this life
or have you completely laid it down? Are
you truly content and thankful for what you have or do
you still strive for more? Can you pray
this prayer?
Lord, we give You our lives. Thank you for everything You have given us,
yet we would leave it all to follow You.
We do not seek after our own happiness, but instead desire to love
others.
Can you pray that prayer honestly? Me neither.
Lets continue.
Lord, but You know our hearts and know we
are not yet at that place. Forgive us Lord,
do not give up on us, but continue to shape us through our failures in our
walk. We are selfish to the core, rescue
us from ourselves! Teach us! Lead us!
Lord, the world overwhelms us! Help
us not to look there for fulfillment, but to Your kingdom. Show us how to love You. Show us how to love others. Thank you for all the amazing blessings you
have bestowed upon us, thank you for being patient with us, and thank you forYour
amazing grace. Without You, we are
nothing.
A
Men.
No comments:
Post a Comment