Contentment within this Season

As the holiday season approaches, many are frantically flooding the mall hoping to find things for others and find things for themselves that might possibly make them content.

But how long does that contentment last?

Are we as a human race only to find happiness for a short amount of time and then move onto something else that might temporarily satisfy our happiness as well?

We keep running this race of setting up goals for ourselves. We find ourselves running at things saying, "Just one more! Then I'll be satisfied." What are we trying to satisfy in the first place? We turn to possessions, relationships, food, music, you name it, to fill this void that we can't seem to fill. 

Whether we want to acknowledge it or not, we are searching for things that only One can wholly satisfy. Why are we looking to the temporary to satisfy our eternal needs?

As Christians, it is so easy to be influenced by our culture. A little too easy. Our culture tells us what we need, what we want, who we need to be. But as Christians, where does our identity lie? 

Paul says in the letter to the Ephesians that because of what Christ has done on the cross on our behalf, we are "no longer strangers and aliens, but are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God..." and "Therefore [we are to] be imitators of God, as beloved children. And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God" (2, 5:1-2). So since "I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life of I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me" (Galatians 2:20).

Since we are in Christ, who is our everything, why do we turn to worldly possessions in hope to find satisfaction? Is God not all-knowing? Is He not sufficient for you? "And my God will supply every need of yours according  to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus" (Philippians 4:19).

We have become a selfish human race, unfortunately. This is what our culture presses upon us: that we should hold ourselves high, consider ourselves, and have self-empowerment. Who are we to steal glory from God who deserves all the glory? 

He gave us the ultimate gift that no one else could give. He sent His only Son, Jesus Christ, to die on our behalf. "Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us... " (Galatians 3:13). We are a sinful race. There is absolutely nothing that we, as a sinful human race, can do to win even the slightest favor in God's eyes. "So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy" (Romans 9:29). Christ died in our place that was rightfully ours. And to prove that He was Lord, he rose from the dead three days later. "In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins" (1 John 4:10). So then, "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness" (1 John 1:9).

So instead of considering how we feel or what we want this holiday season, why not consider the good works that God has done for us. Stop contemplating on things that you don't have, but be grateful for what you already have: salvation in Christ.