Ultimate Satisfaction

If you were given the choice between receiving $50 now, or a guaranteed $1,000,000,000 (one billion dollars) in the future, which would you choose? It's sad to say, but with the way that most of us live our lives, a lot of us would choose the $50 for temporary satisfaction rather than waiting for the time to come when we'll receive the outrageous amount of rewards promised to us in our future.

As Christians, a lot of us are like those who choose the $50 over the billion dollars; we choose the temporary satisfactions here on earth instead of doing what we know we should be doing in order to reap the huge reward that God has promised us through His son-eternal life. These temporary satisfactions, e.g. the love of money, lust, etc., are nowhere near as valuable as the reward that God has in store for those who remain dedicated to Him.

The Bible specifically says that we are not to conform to the patterns of this world (Romans 12:1-2) and 1 John 2:15-17 warns us about loving anything in the world:

Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For everything in the world-the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does—comes not from the Father but from the world. The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever.

The sad part about our worldly desire for temporary satisfaction is the fact that God sent His only Son to die on the cross so that we may be able to receive the reward of eternal life, even though we don't deserve it. Every time we fall to our temporary satisfactions, we are basically telling God that the gift of eternal life isn't worth waiting for. It amazes me that, as Christ-followers, we continue to stumble and give in to our temporary satisfactions even though Christ went through so much in order to allow us to someday experience the ultimate satisfaction of being with Him forever.

In order to overcome our urges for temporary satisfaction, we must constantly remind ourselves of the best reward that we will ever get—eternal life with God forever! As you go throughout your day, thank God for sending His Son to die on the cross so that your satisfaction is not a temporary one like the satisfaction provided by this world. Don't give in to the temporary satisfactions; instead, stand firm with the promise that God gives us of eternity with Him, the ultimate satisfaction.