Fully Satisfied

Soul satisfaction comes when we see that every day is a gift of God that is made to be lived for God.

“When they came to Jerusalem, the whole assembly made a covenant with the king at the temple of God. Jehoiada said to them, “The king’s son shall reign, as the LORD promised concerning the descendants of David. The Levites are to station themselves around the king, each with weapon in hand. Anyone who enters the temple is to be put to death. Stay close to the king wherever he goes.” He stationed all the men, each with his weapon in his hand, around the king... Jehoiada and his sons brought out the king’s son and put the crown on him; they presented him with a copy of the covenant and proclaimed him king. They anointed him and shouted, “Long live the king!” Jehoiada then made a covenant that he, the people and the king would be the LORD’s people. All the people of the land rejoiced, and the city was calm, because Athaliah had been slain.” ‭‭2 Chronicles‬ ‭23‬:‭2‬-‭21

Today we see Joash, a seven year old anointed as king. He was the rightful king of the line of David. He had been hidden by his relative and stayed in the temple six years. He took his place as king of Judah after the priest brought everyone together to crown him. This was no small undertaking. They had to overcome an evil queen and come together in order to make it all happen.

When we read these stories, it is good to remember how they can relate to our own lives. Like the people of Judah, we proclaim the truth that the Son, Jesus, shall reign. Like the people, we do well to stay close to the King every day. Like the people, our lives are better when we crown Him as Lord of our lives and commit to covenant relationship with Him. Like the people who lived back then, it is by faith that in God that we overcome evil. Like the people we will rejoice and find peace when we center our lives in God. How does this relate to you? Have you been staying close to the King? Are you living for Him?

“Lord, you have been our dwelling place throughout all generations. You turn people back to dust, saying, “Return to dust, you mortals.” A thousand years in your sight are like a day that has just gone by, or like a watch in the night. Our days may come to seventy years, or eighty, if our strength endures; yet the best of them...quickly pass, and we fly away. Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom. Satisfy us in the morning with your unfailing love, that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days.” Psalms‬ ‭90‬:‭1‬-14

God wants to teach us that we are from Him and made to be in relationship with Him. He is the One who gives us life. He puts our spirit in our bodies in our mother's womb. He gives us the days we have on this earth. Then one day we return to Him. We are dust to dust on earth, and spirit to spirit in heaven. The psalmist tells us to number our days that we may gain a heart of wisdom. What does that mean to you? Many of us celebrate birthdays by counting up, but God tells us to learn to count down because the truth is our time is short. Have you thought about how short eighty, ninety, or even a hundred years in comparison to all of eternity?

Numbering our days changes our perspective. It reminds us to keep our focus on the One who we will dwell with after our time here expires. Numbering our days reminds us how little value things that are temporary are to our souls. Will any of us care about how nice our car, our house, or our bank account is on our death bed? Spoiler alert, you do not take anything with you as you pass on to the next life. So how does numbering our days teach us how to make the most of each day?

The psalmist says we are to start by finding all that we need in the presence of God and by receiving His unfailing love. Is this your pattern? Do you wake up each day by thanking Jesus for the new life that you have in Him? Do you praise Him for His sacrifice and for the Holy Spirit? Or do you hurry off to the endless list of things you just have to get done today? If someone who did not know you looked at your calendar, your checkbook, or your hearts cares, would they say that you live for Jesus? How is your life reflecting a heart devoted to Him?

So many of us start our days with a feeling of deficit. Like we do not have enough or we are not good enough. This is not how God wants you to feel or think. He wants you to operate out of a place of wholeness and strength. He wants you to know how incredibly special you are to Him and that you will never lack anything you need because you start each day being fully satisfied. Only then are you ready to go about your day with gladness singing of the goodness of God and how this day was made by Him, for Him.

“I said to myself, “Come now, I will test you with pleasure to find out what is good. I tried cheering myself with wine, and embracing folly...I wanted to see what was good for people to do under the heavens during the few days of their lives. I undertook great projects: I built houses for myself...I amassed silver and gold for myself, and the treasure of kings...I denied myself nothing my eyes desired; I refused my heart no pleasure. Yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done and what I had toiled to achieve, everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind; nothing was gained under the sun. I saw that wisdom is better than folly, just as light is better than darkness. For the wise, like the fool, will not be long remembered; the days have already come when both have been forgotten. So I hated life...What do people get for all the toil and anxious striving with which they labor under the sun? A person can do nothing better than to eat and drink and find satisfaction in their own toil. This too, I see, is from the hand of God...To the person who pleases him, God gives wisdom, knowledge and happiness, but to the sinner he gives the task of gathering and storing up wealth to hand it over to the one who pleases God."‭‭Ecclesiastes‬ ‭2‬:‭1‬-‭26

If only each person in our world could listen and learn from the wisdom of Solomon. How much better our world would be. What do you see when you look around you? What do you hear on the lips of friends, acquintances, colleagues, family, and strangers? We live in a world that is unsatisfied and ever searching. We live in a culture of consumers always wanting more of what they want but who rarely get what they need. So many people pursue pleasure at the cost of their soul. People pursue more possessions at the expense of family time or real meaning. Solomon did all these things and asked himself the question of what people get from all their endless striving.

Do you ever feel like Solomon? Do you feel unsatisfied yet exhausted from endless striving? Always trying to get ahead but finding when you get where you thought you needed that the destination of success was only a mirage? At some point we need to stop and listen to the voice of the One who made us, who knows us, and who designed us to find our satisfaction in His unfailing love. Solomon built, gathered, gained, and achieved the American Dream so to speak, but it left him feeling empty and alone. Can you relate?

There is a beautiful shift in thinking that took place in Solomon's mind that helped feed his soul. He changed the way he looked at life. Instead of endlessly seeking and searching, he stopped to give thanks and see that everything in his life is a gift from God. He said the person who lives to please God and sees life as a gift finds gladness and meaning. Don't you want this? Don't you want a life where every day you experience the fruits of the Spirit, joy, peace, kindness and so much more?

If you want a life that is full of satisfaction it is only found in a life centered in Jesus Christ. If we are honest, we admit something has to change. We have to let go of the lies we have bought of what "the good life" looks like that we learned from advertisements and retailers, and approach each day with a heart that looks to be the person that God made us to be. Jesus said take up your cross. Wash someone's feet. Bring healing. Bring life. Pick up your cross. Die to yourself. Live for God. Will we listen to our Lord and Savior? Will we hear that His message is just like Solomon's? Satisfaction will never be found in some earthly possession that you get. It is found in the eternal gift of life that only God can give.

“On the day you were born...I said to you, “Live!” I made you grow like a plant of the field...I looked at you and saw that you were old enough for love, I spread the corner of my garment over you and covered your naked body. I gave you my solemn oath and entered into a covenant with you, declares the Sovereign LORD, and you became mine. I bathed you with water and washed the blood from you and put ointments on you. I clothed you with an embroidered dress and put sandals of fine leather on you. I dressed you in fine linen and covered you with costly garments. I adorned you with jewelry: and a beautiful crown on your head...But you trusted in your beauty and used your fame to become a prostitute. You lavished your favors on anyone who passed... you still were not satisfied. Then you increased your promiscuity...but even with this you were not satisfied...You prefer strangers to your own husband! “ ‘Because you did not remember the days of your youth...She and her daughters were arrogant, overfed and unconcerned; they did not help the poor and needy. They were haughty and did detestable things...Yet I will remember the covenant I made with you in the days of your youth, and I will establish an everlasting covenant with you...when I make atonement for you for all you have done, you will remember" ‭‭Ezekiel‬ ‭16‬:‭4‬-63

God tells us through Ezekiel that He is the One who gave us life, who strengthened us every day of our lives and provides for us. He said He washed us with water and blood and anoints us. He clothes us and puts a crown on our head like Joash the seven year old. Consider the kindness of God. Think of all that He has done for you. He does not want to take anything from you. He wants everything for you that you might find the life He made for you. The invitation He has is relationship. Covenant marriage. Bride and Bridegroom. He wants all your satisfaction to be found in Him.

God said that because you were not satisfied you sought love in all the wrong places. You desired the approval and affections of strangers. You were arrogant, overfed, and unconcerned. You did not help the poor and needy because you made life all about yourself. Does this not describe so much of the world we see on social media or in the news today? Overfed and unconcerned. What a terrible description of a life. God has something so much better in store for us. His desire is intimacy with Him and a life empowered by the Holy Spirit.

God saw that we could not make peace or find purpose on our own so He sent His Son Jesus to make the way for us. Hundreds of years before Jesus came, God said I will make atonement for you and then you will remember. This is the truth. If we turn to Jesus we will remember what our lives were like before He came into our hearts and transformed us. The key question is if we will stay faithful to our relationship with Him. He has transformed us, will we allow culture to re-conform us to consumerism, or will we block out the noise and desires that only want us to satisfy the desires of our flesh? Will we live for God and make our relationship with Jesus the center of our lives?

“Who are you to judge someone else’s servant? If we live, we live for the Lord; and if we die, we die for the Lord. So, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord. You, then, why do you judge your brother or sister? For we will all stand before God’s judgment seat. So then, each of us will give an account of ourselves to God. Therefore let us stop passing judgment on one another. Instead, make up your mind not to put any stumbling block or obstacle in the way of a brother or sister. If your brother or sister is distressed because of what you eat, you are no longer acting in love. Do not by your eating destroy someone for whom Christ died. For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit, because anyone who serves Christ in this way is pleasing to God and receives human approval. Let us therefore make every effort to do what leads to peace and to mutual edification...everything that does not come from faith is sin.” ‭‭Romans‬ ‭14‬:‭1‬-23

The priest in Judah said long live the Kind and so do we. Our King is alive and He reigns. Paul said we please God when we live for our King Jesus. Let that truth settle into your heart today. Jesus said I will never leave you and will be with you until the end of the age. The God who gave you life, who knows you fully, is with you right now. Every breath, every morning, every day, we have opportunity to see that everything is from God and the all that we have is a gift from His hand. Satisfy your soul by starting each day with His unfailing love. Start and end this day knowing you are deeply loved. Stay close to the King by centering your life around what He wants done and living to please Him.

What happens when we begin to see life this way? We find joy. We find reasons to give thanks in places we used to overlook. A meal becomes a reminder that God gives us our daily bread. Our work becomes an opportunity to serve Him and in doing so we find meaning. The people around us become people He gave His life for and wants us to love. As His love fills our hearts, we love to give. His fullness naturally overflows peace and joy as we accomplish His purposes.

So remember to number your days. This day as a gift from God and you are not promised tomorrow. So live it for God. Take a moment to thank Him for all He has done and invite Him into all you will do. Make absolutely every effort to love like Jesus for every act of love, every step of faith, and every effort to bring peace pleases Him. He is all you will ever need and He knows what is best for you so let His love satisfy your soul and let today be the day that His love flows through you.