An empty feeling
Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labour for that which does not satisfy? (Isaiah 55:1–2 ESV)
I vividly remember the day in my early twenties when I was sitting in the comfortable living room of my upper-middle class home and felt a void and restlessness within me that none of the plush surroundings or gadgets around me could assuage. In that fleeting moment, I sensed the powerful truth that material things cannot fully satisfy or give us happiness. I realized that our spirits will never be satisfied until they are in union with the great and loving Spirit who created them.
Thomas à Kempis said that “the happiness of man does not consist in abundance of this world’s goods, for a modest share is sufficient for him.” I too have found that having too many goods keeps me from enjoying what I have to the fullest, and that the simplest pleasures of life, which don’t cost much, provide us with the greatest happiness.
We were created as eternal creatures; that’s why the temporality of materialism leaves us with an empty feeling.
The greatest and most precious possession we can ever have is eternal life through faith in Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Only God can satisfy the thirst and hunger of our spirits, because He created us with a space in our hearts that only He can fill. We enjoy that satisfaction in our inner being as we deepen our relationship with Him.[1]
You have made us for yourself and our hearts find no peace until they rest in you. – St. Augustine
[1] Activated Less Is Better
