I don’t know why but I like watching certain reality shows. One, for instance, is Gold Rush. I think most men love the idea of heading to Alaska to dig gold out of the ground. There’s something very manly to it. I love seeing the processes they use, the machinery, the techniques, but also the ups and downs, the victories, the defeats. It is all very interesting to me.
But there is something that I notice about these shows and so many others out there: they’re chasing the wrong things. And because they are chasing the wrong things, they never seem happy. They can pull a million dollars of gold out of the ground, and for a moment they cheer, but the very next thing is a focus to go back and get more. It’s never enough. There’s never enough success. They are never satisfied.
Do you know anyone like that? No matter the success, they are never satisfied. There is a reason for that: the things of the world, even the good things, were never meant to satisfy you. And, to be honest, it is a well devised plan by the devil to get and keep you focused on these tangible things that you think will make you happy. The richest people have had the most miserable lives. The people with the most friends and most active lifestyles you find have tons of deep-seated issues. Celebrities, right and left, overdose or find themselves in personal, even legal, problems. The world says, “Get this list of things and you will experience happiness.”
Let me save you a ton of heartbreak and destruction: it’s a lie.
If you want to really experience satisfaction in life and a happiness that is deep and genuine, then you need to do the following:
1. Discover who Jesus really is.
Not the American Jesus. Not the churchy church Jesus. The real Jesus. When you say Jesus these days, a whole host of images and ideas come to mind. The real Jesus is loving, joyful, peaceful, patient, kind, good, faithful, gentle, and able to self-control (Gal 5:22-23). In the church world we know these as the fruits of the Spirit, but they are also the personality traits of Jesus Christ. And because Jesus is all of these things with us, we are able to see him for what and who he really is. “Jesus loves you” stops being a cliche and immediately opens your eyes to the reality of who he is.
If you want Jesus in a nutshell, it is simple: he is God who became a man that died on a cross for the sins of the entire world, and who rose again restoring relationship between us and himself. He meets you where you are and leads you to a life you never even dreamed you could have. He is the only way to experience deep, genuine satisfaction.
Maybe you are at a place where too many bad Christians have tainted your view of him. Forget all of that. Don’t let another so-called Christian be the measure of who Jesus really is. Ask him to show you who he really is, and let his actions affirm his identity. I’d recommend starting here.
2. Discover his plan.
Once you discover who he really is, you will be able to discover his plan. It is simple. He wants a relationship with you. In spite of all the bad things you’ve done. Even if you feel like there’s no way he, the God of the Universe, would even want anything to do with you, once you discover him, you’ll see that is exactly what he wants. Since the first person sinned, he has been on a mission to restore you to himself.
It is amazing to me to think that Jesus died 2000 years ago to restore me, a knucklehead born in 1979. But that is how much he loves me, and how much he loves you as well. His plan is a relationship with you. Money can’t meet that need in your heart. There isn’t a big enough You Fan Club. You need Jesus to satisfy, and the beauty is that he gave all he had to make it happen.
3. Discover real life.
Once you discover the awesomeness of who he is, and you see the plan he has to restore us all, what you discover is truly amazing: you discover real life. This is the life you were meant to live, the existence you were meant to have. People spend their whole lives chasing after things that will never satisfy. But no matter how much fame and success they get, they’re living out alter lives, not even knowing what real life is. It is kind of like the Matrix.
When you discover Jesus, you discover real life, the one you were meant to live all along. At that point, the word satisfaction takes on a whole new meaning. Before satisfaction was an illusion you chased like a mirage in the desert, something you worked for excessively but never seemed to realize. It was something tangible, but so distant.
Now that same word is a beautiful description of the byproduct of your discovery of real life lived with and for Jesus Christ. The benefits are endless and the satisfaction is more wonderful than you could imagine.
When I watch those reality shows, a part of me feels really sad for the folks on the show. I want them to know there isn’t enough gold in Alaska to satisfy you. There isn’t enough you can do to make you feel complete. Who you were meant to be is buried within Jesus Christ, and it is only by discovering who he really is that you can discover who you really are.
Gold Rush is looking for it, the Rolling Stones can’t get it, but I know where satisfaction can be found: A relationship with Jesus.
If you’re reading this and want to wake up from that fake life you’re living and discover how to live a real life with Jesus Christ, it is simple.
1. All have sinned. Romans 3:23
2. The wages of sin is death. Romans 6:23
3. While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5:8
4. The most important part: If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by confessing with your mouth that you are saved. Romans 10:9-10
Find Jesus. Make him lord of your life. Experience real life, real satisfaction.
“Look! I stand at the door and knock. If you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in, and we will share a meal together as friends. Revelation 3:20
Be blessed
J