I Can't Get No Satisfaction!

“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness. For they shall be satisfied.” Matthew 5:6

If I were to describe my personality in a word, “satisfied” would not be a word I would use. You could say my innate tendency to push the envelope has been the reason for many of the problems in my life. And being a runner does not help with this tendency because we do not really know how fast a person can go. And, unless you believe a human being can run a 0 second 5k, we will continue to be unsatisfied and try to test our limits.

Because of those mysterious limits, we continue to push the limits in training. This is how overtraining happens. This happens because we question our training and work and think we can get closer to the red line, thinking that we need to do more. But then we end up crossing the red line.

We want more, we want more, we want MORE…but the weight of the “MORE” weighs us down, makes us slow, makes us exhausted.

Most of the time, we think MORE = Happiness but actually MORE = MORE Problems.

The problem of MORE has crippled our culture. Obesity, debt, war, vanishing resources, selfishness, divorce, etc., are all problems because it is not in the human condition to be satisfied.

Jesus said, “Blessed are those who HUNGER and THIRST.”  This theology totally goes against our natural way of thinking. But what does He want us to be hungry and thirsty for? Food? Water? Entertainment? Sex? Money? Acceptance? Faster Times?

Righteousness.

And since, as humans, it is not possible to be righteous on our own, Jesus died so that we may be righteous.

Our only way to righteousness is God.

SO, Jesus is saying to hunger and thirst for God and what he wants in for our lives. And Jesus promises that if we do this, we will be SATISFIED.

Is it really that simple?

Yes! God does not change. He is the most we can get. He is the most there is. He made everything! There is nothing more than God.

Now, the world DOES change. We have to constantly keep up with the world. And that can be exhausting.

However, God will walk WITH me. I don’t have to chase Him. He is always here. Not going anywhere.

Satisfaction in God is like that feeling of climbing a mountain and finally reaching the highest summit. Looking over the landscape and having the satisfaction of knowing we no longer have to climb.

And because we have the satisfaction of reaching the summit, we can go back down the mountain and confidently help others get there too!

Let’s throw away our will and focus on the will of the Lord. Because, let’s face it folks, fresh water will run dry, food will run scarce, natural gas and oil will run out, we can eat ourselves into a heart attack, and it is not possible to run a 0 second 5k.

Let’s focus on God’s never-ending love and grace spread the satisfaction He brings to the masses.

In the material things of this earth, moderation is key. We can run too much, eat too much, etc, etc.

But we can NEVER get too much of God.