Are You Satisfied?

“Whom have I in heaven but you? And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you.” (Psalm 73:25 ESV)

“God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in God – John Piper). Do you desire God? If you do, may I ask you why? Do you think that loving God can be idolatrous?

If you rejoice in God, what are you rejoicing in? Is it the things that God does? Is it the mercy that He has blessed you with? Is it the new BMW you just bought? Rejoice in God so that we are most satisfied in Him, which is about God, not what He does. Do you rejoice in God alone, who He is?

But wait, you might say, what about Isaiah 64:4, “From of old no one has heard or perceived by the ear, no eye has seen a God besides you, who acts for those who wait for him?” or Acts 17:25, “or is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything.” God does need us to serve him; he serves us, right?

When we worship God for what he does, the things he gives us, and the mighty works he completes for us, we risk making ourselves a god. The True God becomes one who grants our desires, the so-called genie in a lamp. We begin to worship the gifts above the giver, and this is idolatry.

If Piper is right, and I believe he is, then God is most glorified in us when we are satisfied with God alone. We become most satisfied with God, the Trinity, His being, and existence. The satisfaction I am speaking of is that we can have a personal relationship with our creator; I believe this is Pipers' belief as well.  

Now, where do I back this up with scripture? Let us look at Philippians 1:20. “It is my eager expectation and hope that I will not be ashamed at all ashamed, but that with full courage now as always Christ will be honored in my body, whether by life or death.”  Christ will be honored in my body, whether by life or death. Paul tells us that he wants to glorify Christ in his being, body, heart, soul, and mind. Christ is everything to Paul, and in his whole being, he is satisfied in Christ alone and lives his life for Christ alone. Paul also told us he counts all things as trash, everything except Christ, “I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus.” Philippians 3:8. It is in Christ that Paul is satisfied.

Most assuredly, this principle is found in Habakkuk 3:17-18. “17Though the fig tree should not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines, the produce of the olive fail and the fields yield no food, the flock is cut off from the fold, and there be no herd in the stalls, 18 yet I will rejoice in the Lord; I will take joy in the God of my salvation.” We can still be satisfied in the Lord our God when everything fails because He is of supreme worth. He is the great I AM.

This is true satisfaction in God, and God is most glorified when this is our belief and how we live our lives. If you are satisfied with God, is it truly God you are satisfied with, or are you satisfied with gifts, blessings, and things? Love for God can be idolatrous when it is wrongly directed. For example, if we love God only because of His blessings, or if we love God more for what He does than for who He is, then our love is not pure. Not all love is good. When love brings for sin, love becomes sinful itself.

Get God, cling to Him because He is God. He saved you so you could see Him as a divine treasure—transcendently pure as God alone and worthy above all things. The term' divine treasure' refers to God's incomparable value and worth. It means recognizing that God is the most precious and valuable thing in the universe and that nothing can compare to Him.

Grace and Peace!