“By the power of Your hand, O Lord, destroy those who look to this world for their reward. But satisfy the hunger of Your treasured ones. May their children have plenty, leaving an inheritance for their descendants. Because I am righteous, I will see You. When I awake, I will see you face to face and be satisfied.” (Psalm 17:14-15 NLT)
It seems to be a fact of life that most people on earth today are seeking their satisfaction in and through the things of earth, but to the neglect of real, lasting satisfaction in a personal love relationship with the Lord Jesus. God’s Word has taught us, verified through history, that we’re seekers of lesser things, the things of this world, never stopping to realize nothing of this earth can compare with what we find and can have in our walk with Jesus.
Solomon addressed this in Proverbs 21:17 when he wrote: “Those who love pleasure become poor; those who love wine and luxury will never be rich.” Some reading or hearing those words would scoff, saying: “Look at me! I have it all and I’m living in luxury with want of nothing! Anything I desire is at my beck and call!” And that may be true on earth, but it will certainly not be true in eternity. When you close your eyes in death you’ll have nothing but regret that you didn’t seek the Lord when you had the opportunity.
If this life was all there was, yes, of course, go for all the pleasure we can find, but it’s not and therein lies the dilemma for mankind. John reminds us in 1 John 3:2-3: “Dear friends, we are already God’s children, but He has not yet shown us what we will be like when Christ appears. But we do know that we will be like Him, for we will see Him as He really is. And all who have this eager expectation will keep themselves pure, just as He is pure.”
One day, sooner than any of us can imagine, we, as God’s dearly loved children, will awaken to our Savior’s likeness, not because of anything we’ve done or accomplished, but because of the grace and mercy of our loving Savior. Paul wrote in Ephesians 2:8-10 “God saved you by His grace, when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it. For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things He planned for us long ago.”
Pleasure for us, as God’s children, is experienced in its fullness as we seek first God’s Kingdom and His eternal righteousness. As we lose ourselves in the pursuit of His will, we find a level of satisfaction and contentment with which the world has nothing to compare. To sit at the Savior’s feet and bask in His presence is heaven on earth. To speak and know He hears and responds is a level of contentment and satisfaction of which the world has no knowledge.
To listen to His voice, hear His instructions and follow in His ways is to find a peace that cannot be bought or found in any other way. Knowing Jesus and growing in His likeness is only a foretaste of what it will be like when we meet Him face to face. To be rid of these bodies of clay and finally and forever be given our immortal, flawless and eternal bodies will be cause for celebration that will literally last throughout eternity.
Dear friend, if you’re reading this and haven’t yet opened your heart and life to Jesus, please don’t wait another second. The only way to awaken to our true and eternal likeness is to yield our life and allegiance to the Savior Jesus, who died in our place and has prepared for us a place in heaven. If you don’t know Him, please tap ANewStory.com and listen closely as Ron Hutchcraft walks you through a brief, but powerful journey of how you can know when you close your eyes in death you will awaken in the Savior’s holy presence. Please don’t wait another second!
Blessings, Ed 😊
