Searching for Happiness in the Wrong Places Over 2,500 years ago the prophet Isaiah looked out on a people who longed for happiness & security but were looking for it in the wrong places. They were running to the marketplace & to places of amusement, spending their money madly for things which brought them no permanent satisfaction. He stood before them one day & gave them the Word of God: Ho, every one that thirsts, come to the waters, & he that has no money; come, buy, & eat; yea, come, buy wine & milk w/o money & w/o price. Wherefore do you spend money for that which is not bread? & your labor for that which satisfies not? hearken diligently to me, & eat that which is good, & let your soul delight itself in fatness (Isaiah 55:1,2). Isaiah didnt speak negatively & berate them for their sins in this particular sermon. He didnt grab the bottle from the drunkards hand, he didnt lecture them about the evils of gluttony, he didnt shame them for their immoral practices. He overlooked that for the moment. He simply asked them: Are you getting what you want out of life? Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread & your labor for that which does not satisfy? If Isaiah were living today he would probably stand at 42nd & Broadway in N. Y., in the Loop in Chicago, or on Market Street in San Francisco, & simply ask the milling, restless throngs: Are you getting what you want? Are you finding satisfaction? He would ask the actress, surfeited w/fame & fortune, but peering out on life hungrily: Are you getting what you want? He would say to the eminently successful financier who commands his fleets & controls his industries: Are you getting what you want? He would say to the laborers & workmen of America who are enjoying the highest standard of living in history: Are you getting what you want? He would ask the youth of America: Are you getting what you want? He would say to the consumers of America who have the best homes, the most comfortable furniture, the finest food, the cleverest gadgets, & the smoothest, most powerful automobiles: Are you getting what you want? We should love those who point out our faults, but we seldom do. . . . let us love one another, for love comes from God . . .Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. 1 John 4:,8 NIV
Posted on: Thu, 04 Sep 2014 18:22:32 +0000
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