“God is most glorified in me when I am most satisfied in Him.” (John Piper) This sentence has had a grip on me for quite some time. I have memorized it, filtered many things I do and think through these words, and I have tried to comprehend human satisfaction here on earth while dissecting what it means to glorify Him. I believe this statement to be true. However, I feel like a failure. I am certain that my life doesn’t show that the glory of the Lord has satisfied the longings of my heart when I continue to search for more, or better, or… in short, sin. Truthfully, I struggle with finding contentment in Him alone. I want Him and….
“I am the bread of life; he who comes to me shall not hunger, and he who believes in me shall never thirst". (John 6:35).
As I read and reread this verse, I can’t help but to ask myself: Am I drinking from the right well?
This, of course, takes my mind back to a tidbit I read somewhere about the symbol of the cup. You see, back in the days of David, well before Jesus walked the earth (somewhere between 1140 B.C. and 586 B.C) the cup was used as a significant symbol. The host would use it to send a message to his guests. If your cup, as a guest, was kept full, you were still welcomed. If your cup grew empty then the host was letting you know, your time of visiting was over. However, and this is the part that I love, if the host was really enjoying your company, he would not only fill your cup but fill it until it was overflowing onto the table and running off onto the floor. Can you picture it? Can you picture being wanted, enjoyed and loved so much that Our Heavenly Host not only fills our lives with His presence, His love, His everything…He actually gives us more than we need…He gives abundantly. And unconditionally.
There have been so many times in my life that I’ve excused myself from His table, not accepted His invitation to stay as He is about to refill my cup. I have hidden, I have been distracted and I have not allowed Him to fill my cup. Instead, I’ve tried to fill it myself out of my own selfishness. How humbling it is for me to write these words. When I come to the end of myself, and I hear His ever-present whisper, calling me back to His table, I show up empty and ashamed. This is where I am in my life: ashamed and thirsty but I know without a doubt He has saved a seat for me and my cup has been kept full in anticipation of my return. I write with tears in my eyes at the realization of my disobedience, stubbornness, and spoiled attitude I’ve had towards Him. In pondering all of this I think I’ve come to the conclusion that we won’t be fully satisfied this side of heaven. Perhaps we aren’t meant to be, that our longings are actually His invitation to draw closer to Him.
How my heart longs desperately to see the reflection of Christ when I stoop down to drink from His well. I know that when I do, His glory will satisfy the longings of my heart, my thirst will be quenched. I believe this is His invitation to join Him at His table…that it’s His desire to pour Himself over me (and my table) completely.
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