Chasing after the Wind

OK, raise your hand . . . how many of you would run after a poisonous snake?

Anyone?

Hmmm . . . what about charging a lion?

Nobody?

Ooh, I got one. . . how many of you would run toward a bear?

I know what you're thinking, 'He's crazy!' Am I? We chase, no relentlessly pursue, things that are hazardous ALL the time . . . things that are dangerous to our well-being-- our spiritual well-being, thus harmful to our lives!

Let the Chase Begin

We pursue sex, money, power, respect, the opposite sex, status.  Pursue, pursue, pursue . . . chase, chase, chase until our feet get tired, but guess what? They don't! That's how the devil works. He knows there is just one piece left to complete our puzzle.  ONLY one puzzle piece remains one that will make us happy, give us joy and bring us peace. So while we look for it, Satan empties another box, pieces that don't even go to the puzzle, pouring the pieces onto the floor so we will quit searching for the one we need-- the One that COMPLETES our puzzle.

But something happens when we see all the pieces litter the floor of our lives, we try to make MANY fit the space they were never intended for. Sex, money, power, respect, the opposite sex status etc. NONE of those things are bad if used in the proper way. The problem is we are never satisfied!

God made us that way. The only dilemma of our thirst for more is it was given to us as a precious gift not so we could lust after things that, at best, can only bring temporary happiness. The gift is meant to be utilized in the way of Psalm 42:1, in that as the deer longeth for the water so our souls longeth after Thee (God), but surprise, surprise the devil corrupts and distorts it where we are longing after ANYTHING but Him and the innate instinct, when not used in the right context, actually becomes a bad thing! That's what the devil does . . . he takes Truth and sprinkles just enough of a lie onto it to seem like it's still truth. He takes something intended for our good and uses it against us.

Back to the puzzle, here's the kicker! While we frantically, and stubbornly, try to press these puzzle pieces in, we have the missing piece that DOES fit in our other hand. . . it's been there all along!

That piece is JESUS.

TRUE WISDOM

King Solomon calls ALL of it a 'chasing after the wind.' I will speak for myself in saying that I have been, and still am at times, a wind-chaser! 'Yet when I had seen all that my hands had done and what I had toiled to achieve, everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind. Nothing was gained under the sun.' Ecclesiastes 1:11. This was not a successful merchant, fisherman or tradesman, this was the king . . . a king so materially rich, Bill Gates, Oprah, Michael Jordan and Warren Buffett are in envy of. I'll let the gravity of those words fall on you and I pray while they do the scales will be removed off your eyes.

Not only was he King, but he was the wealthiest . . . he had concubines (women galore), had a palace (the likes of which will never be seen again this side of Heaven), he had power, had the people's respect and diamonds and jewels Zales could only dream of!

Or what about, 'I have seen all the things done under the sun, all of them are meaningless, a chasing after the wind.' Eccl. 1:14. Or what about  (See Eccl. 1:12-18.)

Solomon's eyes were opened to pursuing ANYTHING other than God Almighty is counterfeit, is not lasting and is ultimately not as meaningful as the Great Pursuit!

It's Time to Fix our Buckets!

Friends, how could we not be frustrated, depressed, sad, discontent with our lives? How many of us are wind-chasers? We have a bucket that we desperately try to fill. The only problem with our buckets is it has a hole in it! Yet instead of taking the time, energy, effort and humility needed for God to fix our buckets, we just keep trying to fill it. That, my brothers and sisters, is being human (remember we were all born sinners) but it is also INSANITY! Pure foolishness.

We watch hamsters and think how stupid they are for running in a circle and never getting anywhere. Yet, there is only a small remnant of believers who have remembered the puzzle piece is right there in their hand, who have gotten their buckets fixed and who have gotten off the treadmill. So, I ask-- how are we any different?

How do we get our buckets fixed? It's a process. I've heard, 'You don't come to Jesus ALL cleaned up, you come to Jesus to get ALL cleaned up,' and it's the truth. As a believer and follower of Christ, you are always on the gurney (surgery table). God, our Creator, is taking out of us things that hinder us and putting into us the fruits of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23) and I truly believe this surgery does not end until our earthly missions are over and we are in His presence either via death or at the Second Coming!

What's success?

The world views success as who has the biggest mansion, the nicest car, the best job, the best body, the most money in their bank account, who has the sexiest, most beautiful spouse, the smartest and most well-behaved kids. Those all equal status and status = success in our eyes. Yet, while many measure success with 000,000,000s, God measures success kind of like a golf's tournament Closest to the Pin competition, who can get the closest to another 0 . . . Zero selfishness and zero sin. Who can live, love, laugh and give ALL, and ONLY, through His strength and Him dwelling in them and for His glory!

Who walks in John 3:30-- more Jesus in their lives and less of themselves. Who is obedient? Who fights the fight daily by yielding themselves to Him and letting the Lord guide their paths? (Proverbs 3:5-6) Who shares Jesus and plants seeds of eternal life in non-believers? (Matt. 9:37)  Who delights in being just a clay jar (2nd Cor. 4:7), who worships Him, walks in gratitude (Psalm 63:3-4) and loves people in such a way they lead them to Him through their actions and treatment of others.

The danger of chasing is a double-edged sword unless you are pursuing Jesus, you either never catch all those other things or even worse you do, which WITHOUT Him IS deadly!

'What good does it do to gain the world, but lose your very soul in the process?' Mark 8:36

If you have EVERYTHING this life can afford yet do not have Jesus, you have NOTHING.