“Straight in, suck up and go,
Cool it, swallow, swallow
Breathe deep, take it all
It comes cheap
Push it through the doors
Because in between the lines
I’m gonna pack more lines
So I can get in
Ooh traffic jam got more cars
Than a beach got sand
Suck it up, suck it up, suck it up,
Fill it up until no more
I’m no crazy creep, I’ve got it coming
To me because I’m not satisfied
The hunger keeps on growing
I eat too much
I drink too much
I want too much
Too much” …
-The Dave Matthews Band
As humans we crave stuff…food, money, position, power, relationship…gods??? If we are not careful we can spend a lot of time moving from one thing to another, filling ourselves up to the brim, trying desperately to satisfy ourselves. When we just can’t quite get enough we are left desperately wanting until we focus our attention elsewhere to someone or something, expecting fulfillment but ultimately finding discontentment and no satisfaction.
It is one thing to have needs and another to have “wants”. As Americans especially we don’t know the difference. As Christians (if you are one) then we REALLY don’t know the difference. It’s quite sad. The Lord is personally walking me through this subject, slowly (because I know I can’t handle it all at once, and God knows that too) showing me the difference. Often times it’s hard to see it, and come to grips with it. As my pastor has said before, “the American church has adopted the American dream”, and they cannot biblically coincide.
As I was reading this morning in the Old Testament book called Judges, the author is giving an account of the spiritual prostitution of the Israelites. They literally whored or lusted after other gods. God would show His grace and mercy towards them, and the next thing you know they are back at it again…seeking fulfillment…leaving unsatisfied. The phrase, “The people of Israel again did what was evil in the sight of the Lord” is a common one throughout the chapters of this particular book. The funny thing is, those Israelites had everything they needed in their relationship with God yet they didn’t see it. In verses 13-14 of chapter 10, after speaking of His continued deliverance, God said, “Yet you have forsaken me and served other gods; therefore I will save you no more. Go and cry out to the gods whom you have chosen; let them save you in the time of distress.” And even after their disobedience, time and time again, God still showed up because of His love for them. This is a theme throughout the Old Testament, God’s deliverance of a wandering people. The story is quite similar for the church of today. I see it daily in my life and the life of the American church.
So as believers here we are…lusting and whoring after other things, claiming Christ yet not being satisfied in Him. We have our God but we have our gods. It is time we choose who we will serve whole heartedly. It’s not Jesus plus ______; it’s only Jesus, period. Let’s stop living as if Jesus was made for us and let’s stop treating Him like an add-on to our lives. We were made for Him because He is God, and we are here for His glory.
Before you can put God first, you must first know God. I encourage you to not just mentally assent or acknowledge Jesus and who He is, but to actually trust in Him as if your life depends on it…because it does. Take Him at His Word that He truly is “the Way, the Truth, and the Life”.
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