Proverbs 14:14

Proverbs 14:14 The backslider in heart will be filled with his own ways, But a good man will be satisfied from above.

Where does my filling come from? Am I looking for my own plans, my own wants and needs, my own benefit, my own ideas, all that which will satisfy me? Or do I look to the God of Heaven, my Father, my maker, my Savior, the One who accepted and forgave me even though He knew I was completely unable to give anything in return? Am I so backslidden that I cannot lift my eyes to the One who cares about me and loves me and has ordered all of history and all eternity that I personally might be with Him?! How backslidden have I become that I would see my self before I would see my God? How backslidden have I become that I would seek to be filled by the vile stink of my rotting self seeking sin, instead of the glorious light and love and peace and joy and contentment of the only One who can truly know my hidden fears and needs and heart?!

Only Jesus can satisfy the heart of man, though we try to fill it with everything else. We have become so earthly minded, so materially focused, so deaf to the sweet soft whisperings of the Spirit. It would be logical to believe that after getting burned so many times after trying to be filled with the world, we would turn and seek our God. But no matter how logical it seems we find a way to forget all that He has already done, to push away that which He is attempting to convince us of today. We reject any criticism, hide from any pain, run from any conflict, spurn any condition which doesn't give us ease and yet our God is knocking at the door of our life, wanting to break through and break down the walls of sin we have so carefully built and protected and coddled. We want life to be easy and we want it now, so we miss in massive quantity the difficult and long path that God knows we must take if we are to be conformed to His image. We gave our lives to Christ, but we stand at the door to His throne pounding and begging for the right to control it!

The proverb says "a good man will be satisfied from above". What makes a man good? Certainly not his ability to do, or his desire to be, but only one thing, the blood of Christ. If we are covered by the blood of Christ, he has positionally made us good, though we could never be on our own. If we are in Christ today He will satisfy our empty and darkened hearts! If we are in Christ today we WILL be satisfied because to be in Christ is to be indwelt by Christ, to be a dwelling of the Spirit of God. We will be satisfied because His presence can do nothing less. Our lives are like a thimble at the bottom of the ocean of God. If we are in Him and He is in us, we become so full that there is no way to be empty, no way to be lacking, no way to not be overwhelmed by His depth and fullness!

May we be filled with only Jesus today! May we welcome the conviction of the Spirit today! May we hold tightly to the difficulties that are before us that God is so wanting to use to destroy the old man and give life to the new! May we reject our own needs and wants and hopes and fears and seek the God of the Universe for His will and His purpose and His Person! May we writhe in sick destestation of all that God hates and hold on with an unyielding clench to all that God loves. May we seek to be conformed to the image of our glorious God today!