Day 15: We are Nothing
Read: Romans 3:9-18
Social media has made keeping in touch with old friends incredibly easy. With one tap or click, I can see how a friend from high school or college is doing. Even if we don’t regularly message these people, their posts can give you a pretty good idea of how they are doing.
I was scanning my Facebook feed the other day when I came across a few pictures of an old friend of mine. It was clear that he and his friends had spent the weekend going from party to party and drinking too much alcohol. My friend had partied like this even when we regularly spoke. We hung out with a lot of the same people, so we would often be invited to the same parties. I never took anybody up on their invitation, but he almost always did.
I began to think of how many people use things like partying and drinking to fill an emptiness inside. But then I started to think about myself. Even as a Christian, I have tried to find fulfillment in the wrong things. For me, it wasn’t alcohol and parties, but my studies, my ministry, my career aspirations are often the focus. God reminded me that in many ways, I was the same as my old friend.
In Romans 3:10-11, Paul reminds us that, left on our own, none of us truly seek God. We wander from one thing to another, wanting to be satisfied, but only the living water that comes from God can truly satisfy our hearts. In Him, we can be truly satisfied and our deepest longings will find their fulfillment.
This was what Jesus told the Samaritan woman at the well in John 4. She had been in multiple marriages and the man she was living with at that point in her life wasn’t even her husband. When she met Jesus, her life was radically changed. Jesus showed her that what she was trying to find in relationships could only be found in Him.
It is easy for those of us who have been Christians for a long time to think we are better than those who are younger in the faith, or those who aren’t believers at all. But the apostle Paul reminds us that everyone is alike in this way, our hearts are not naturally inclined to seek God. It’s not by our own initiative that we come to God. Instead, God draws us to Himself. Jesus said that He came to seek and save those who were lost. Even when we are found and saved, we have a tendency to wander. But this does not mean we become more sinful in those moments. And in His goodness and unchanging love, God continually brings us back to Himself.
Even if you’ve been a Christian a long time, you can make the mistake of trying to find your identity and satisfaction in things apart from Christ. Only a life in Christ can truly satisfy our longings. Have you tried to find fulfillment in things or people other than Jesus? What practical steps can you take to continue living fully in Christ?
Passages to refer to: (John 4:10, 13-14; 6:44; Luke 19:10)