Fulfilling the Longing of our Restless Heart
Fulfilling the Longing of our Restless Heart
Oh, the longings of our restless heart. With every beat beat… beat beat… beat beat… we long for more. We long to finally be happy, content and complete. We long to feel safe and secure. We long for the grass that looks so much greener on the other side. However, these longings so often lead us astray. We find our way to a place where we think we can find contentment and before we know it, the longing and the restlessness returns. We believe we can be satisfied by the things of this world. The problem is, we were not made for this world. We were made for God and our longing for more can only be filled through our pursuit of righteousness.
What? We were not made for this world? We were not created so that we could experience true happiness? Am I saying that this life we are living is not about us at all? Y’all – it’s not. Our pursuit in life should not be about fulfilling the longing of our restless heart with worldly things. Our pursuit in life should be to first seek Jesus and His righteousness, to grow in love with Him, to become more and more like Him, and to love others as we are loved. The Bible tells us that when we hunger and thirst for His righteousness, then He will satisfy our longing and our restlessness. We cannot find satisfaction anywhere else. When we do, the search will be in vain and can only lead to destruction.
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. Matthew 5:6
We have been studying the beatitudes and the first four describe who it is we are to become. We begin full of self, yet we are to die to self and to become like Christ who was selfless. Let’s review… We are to become poor in spirit, recognizing our inadequacy and need for the Lord. Apart from Him, we can do nothing. We are to become conscious of our sin and be grieved by it, longing to rid ourselves of it. And we are to become gentle, letting go of control and surrendering to His authority and control. We are not to be self-righteousness, but to realize that it is only our relationship with Jesus that provides all we need. These 4 things bring about an understanding and a sensitivity that changes our perspective.
Fulfilling the longing of our restless heart can only take place when it is God who does the filling. It is not automatic. You see, God asks us to seek Him first, to hunger and to thirst for His righteousness. When we do – we are promised that we will be filled – completely satisfied. Does religion bring about this satisfaction? Absolutely not. It is only found through our relationship with Jesus, and as our relationship grows and deepens, so does our satisfaction. (Oooh! Can I get a hallelujah!?!)
This filling we long for and desperately need is a continual process. The same way we become hungry and thirsty again only hours after a big meal, our appetite for more Jesus should be nourished daily. We should crave His righteousness. We should long for more of Him. The scripture says “blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness”. The Bible teaches us that the only righteousness that satisfies God’s standard is faith in Jesus Christ. And when we hunger and thirst for Him, we will be satisfied by Him, and we will find rest.
“How completely satisfying to turn from our limitations to a God that has none.” AW Tozer
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