Shopping In The Sales

I went sales shopping today and was surprised at how quiet it was, compared to what I was expecting.

The post-Christmas sales tend to be incredibly busy with people rushing around, desperate to get more for their money.

I was amazed at some of the adverts on Christmas day for Boxing Day sales which started at 6am! It seems that, in this time of recession and financial insecurity, everyone is desperate to get the most for their money.

Everyone is hungry for more.

But I think even if I had unlimited resources, I would never be satisfied with what I could buy. I would always want more. There would always be something in me which didn't feel quite satisfied. Indeed, isn't the sole purpose of fashion to perpetuate our dissatisfaction with our lives?

It is easy to say we should be satisfied with what we have, it is so much harder to do.

There is a hunger deep inside all of us, and we try so hard to fill it and satiate it with different things.

But only one thing will satisfy.

Only one thing will give us all that we want.

"The Lord is my shepherd; I have all that I need.

[Psalm 23:1 NLT]

I love the words of this song,

"Hungry, I come to you

For I know you satisfy.

I am empty, but I know

Your love does not run dry.

So I wait for you

I wait for you."

Instead of rushing to find our satisfaction in the sales, let's take our hunger to God. And wait for Him to satisfy us.

Make A Meal Of It

I have just spotted that the yoghurt I bought yesterday has the phrase "Eat well, feel uplifted" on the lid.

 

That's a pretty bold claim.

 

I have definitely experienced some degree of uplifting from a satisfying meal - a warming casserole on a winter's night; hot bread or cake straight from the oven; butter melting down the sides of a jacket potato (I am making myself hungry just writing those).  But I'm not sure that food can really uplift us in the long-term.

 

I love it when supermarkets have samples of food - pieces of cake, cubes of cheese, sometimes even thimbles of something alcoholic.

 

However, whilst these are tasty, they are not a meal in themselves.

 

They don't satisfy.

 

They whet our appetite and create a longing for something more.

 

In the same way, if we just sample snippets of God's word, nibbling our way through odd passages here and there, we will never feel satisfied.  We won't be truly uplifted.

 

We need to take the time to sit down and 'eat' God's word.  We need to make space to savour His words and chew things over.  We need to be like the Psalmist who said, 

 

        "You thrill to God's Word,
        you chew on Scripture day and night."

 

        [Psalm 1:2 MSG]

 

Or,

 

       "I ponder every morsel of wisdom from you,
       I attentively watch how you’ve done it.
       I relish everything you’ve told me of life,
       I won’t forget a word of it."

 

       [Psalm 119:16 MSG]

 

 

We need to make a meal out of God's word.  Not just a snack, which staves off our hunger for a short while, but doesn't really satisfy.  But a sit-down, take-your-time, three-course meal.

 

Yes, it's more effort.  But it is also more satisfying.

 

And, like any really good meal, it leaves us wanting more.

 

 

 

 

 

 

How Much Is Enough?

I overheard this quote today: "Since when has anyone ever had 'enough money'?"

 

How true is that?

 

When asked how much money was enough, J D Rockefeller - one of the richest men in the world - famously replied "Just a little bit more!"

 

We never seem to have enough money to satisfy us.  We always want more.

 

Not always a lot more.  Just enough to pay the bills and have a little bit left over.  Enough to buy branded food products.  Enough to not have to look for vouchers and discount codes to save a few pennies or pounds.  Enough to feel comfortable.

 

Just a little bit more.

 

But it's not just money.  We can easily find ourselves looking to other things to satisfy us.  Things which will bring us meaning and fulfilment. 

 

Money.  Fashion.  Accessories.  Technology.  Mortgage.  Careers.  Relationships.  Marriage.  Sex.  Children...

 

But none of these things will ever truly satisfy us - they always leaving us wanting more.

 

How much is enough?

 

God is the only One who can satisfy the desires of our hearts.

 

"The Lord is my shepherd;

I have all that I need.

[Psalm 23:1 NLT, emphasis mine] 

 

"God, the one and only—
I’ll wait as long as he says.
Everything I need comes from him,
so why not?
He’s solid rock under my feet,
breathing room for my soul,
An impregnable castle:
I’m set for life."

[Psalm 62:1-2 MSG, emphasis mine]

God is the only one who is enough. 

 

 

Real Food

I found myself ordering a salad the other evening from a food outlet which advertised its "real food".  Now, I haven't been tempted to eat pretend plastic food since my childhood, so I found the promotional technique a little odd.

What else would I be looking for other than "real food"?

I think the advertising ploy was intended to conjure up images of handmade, lovingly crafted, good-for-you food, the kind of food you'd cook at home and know was both healthy and tasty.  I think it was a statement of a shift away from the mass-produced, deep-fried, instant food of many fast food outlets. 

It got me thinking about what we mean by 'real', especially by 'real food' in a spiritual sense: something that will satisfy our deepest hunger and will 'do us good'.

We all hunger.  For meaning, for significance, for purpose.  We want to know that we matter, that we belong and that we are loved.  It is a hunger and a desire in each of us, which reaches to the depths our beings.

We try to fill this hunger in many different ways and with many different 'foods'.  We turn to money and wealth and jobs and fame and popularity and 'coolness' and relationship and friendship and children and sex and alcohol and TV and clothes and books and the list goes on and on.

And all of these things fill us for a little while.  Some even taste good.

But they don't satisfy our hunger for long.  We always want more.  They can't satisfy the very depths of our longings.

There is only one 'real food' who can satiate our hunger: Jesus.

He described Himself as providing this "real food" and nourishment for our spirits and our souls:

"I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry again. Whoever believes in me will never be thirsty."

[John 6:35 NLT]

And He warned,

"Don't waste your energy striving for perishable food [...] work for the food that sticks with you, food that nourishes your lasting life, food the Son of Man provides."

[John 6:27 MSG]

One of my favourite songs which considers this issue is by Plumb and is called 'God Shaped Hole' (you might recognise it from the film 'Bruce Almighty').  These are the words -

Every point of view has another angle
And every angle has its merit
But it all comes down to faith
That's the way I see it

You can say that love is not divine and
You can say that life is not eternal
"All we have is now"
But I don't believe it

There's a God-shaped hole in all of us
And the restless soul is searching
There's a God-shaped hole in all of us
And it's a void only He can fill

Does the world seem grey with empty longing
Wearing every shade of cynical?
And do you ever feel that
There is something missing?

I would love to say that when I feel hungry, I always opt for the "real food" option - both literally and spiritually - but all too often I prefer the cheap, fast easy alternatives.  As I continue to grow in my relationship with Jesus I want to be able to say, in the words of the song,
"Hungry I come to You, For I know You satisfy."