Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” (John 4:13-14, NIV)
I had one of those enjoyable rounds not too many days ago. Drives found the fairway, irons found the green, putts found the cup. And late in the round, as I walked from one shot to the next, I found myself thinking, There is nothing so satisfying as a good round of golf.
Am I right?
You can answer this from two directions. As a golfer, you may well say that I am right. A good day of golf is extremely satisfying.
But as a believer, a follower of Christ, this idea may make you a bit nervous. Can I say that? That I am satisfied most in a round of golf?
It was Saint Augustine who famously wrote, speaking of the Lord, “You have made us for yourself, and our hearts are restless, until they can find rest in you.” This notion of rest in Augustine’s words sure sounds like satisfaction, for when we are satisfied, it is as peaceful, as easy a place as we will ever find ourselves.
Satisfaction is not a foreign concept to the Word of God. In fact, you’ll find the idea there frequently, including many references to earthly satisfaction. Look:
“A sluggard’s appetite is never filled, but the desires of the diligent are fully satisfied.” (Proverbs 13:4)
“They all ate and were satisfied, and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces
that were left over.” (Matthew 14:20)
It’s all right to be satisfied. Even satisfied with golf.
What’s not all right is to miss the so much more that Scripture offers in regard to satisfaction—that the highest of all satisfactions is satisfaction of the soul.
In Psalm 63, David wrote of seeking and thirsting for God. A seeker is satisfied in finding, a thirsty man in drink. David then wrote of seeing the Lord in his sanctuary, of experiencing God’s love as better than life, of praising God throughout his days. Then he wrote, in keeping up the analogy of physical satisfaction: “I will be fully satisfied as with the richest of foods” (emphasis added).
David allowed the satisfactions of this world to point him ever higher: to satisfaction in God. Even the best of earthly marriages are not like the marriage covenant we have with our Savior. Nor will the best of earthly satisfactions ever match the satisfaction of soul in the finding of Christ. There is lesser and there is greater. But we can allow the relative tinge of satisfaction we get from a fine meal, a good night’s rest, a job well done, or a shot purely struck to spur us to the greater, to seek a satisfaction that does not die with the hour. Let us run to this highest satisfaction of all!
—
Jeff Hopper
June 29, 2015
Copyright 2015 Links Players International
The Links Daily Devotional appears Monday-Friday at www.linksplayers.com.