Psalm 23:6

The pursuit of satisfaction is one of the most common conflicts of the human heart.  History tells us of a King who sought satisfaction and what he met along the way.  Intellectually he had no rival, he drank of the finest of wines and the feasts were so lavish that a country could have fed for a week upon what was presented at his dining room table in one night.  He experienced romance with the most beautiful women and held respect and prestige throughout the entire world.  Money was no object, and luxury became commonplace compared to the extravagance of this man’s lifestyle.  In all of this you would think this guy had all the right ingredients for the recipe of satisfaction, but you’d be wrong.  After all the wisdom, wonder, indulgence, and success this man penned the words: 

“So I became great and excelled more than all who were before me in Jerusalem.  Also my wisdom remained with me.  Whatever my eyes desired I did not keep from them.  I did not withhold my heart from any pleasure, for my heart rejoiced in all my labor; and this was my reward from all my labor.  Then I looked on all the works that my hands had done and on the labor in which I had toiled; and indeed all was vanity and grasping for the wind.  There was no profit under the sun.”

Ecclesiastes 2:9-11

You see, God divinely blessed King Solomon with wealth, wisdom, and wandering.

“What do you mean by wandering?”  You might ask.

Charles Spurgeon said this of Solomon, “The wisest of men was permitted to make experiments for us all, and to do for us what we must not dare to do for ourselves.^[1]”

Solomon wandered through the vast pleasures of life looking for a purposeful satisfaction.  The interesting thing is he received lengthy instruction from his father, King David, the man after God’s own heart, on where and how to find this purposeful satisfaction.

“And I will dwell in the house of the Lord Forever.” He wrote so that those who followed would know.

It’s by dwelling with the Lord that we find our purpose

And it’s in His house that satisfaction is found

The times in life that I have wondered what my purpose was in life have always been answered when I stopped looking to this world and started looking in His Word.  When I came to church and purposefully sought the Lord in His house.  At church is where we have access to God’s word, and God has access to us through worship.  That’s why it’s so important to come away from the hustle and bustle of life and present ourselves before the Lord.

Many people have needlessly wandered through the journey that Solomon went on.  They move from pleasure to pleasure in a pursuit to fill the void they experience in their hearts.  The only problem is outward experiences will never bring lasting satisfaction to the inward conditions of the heart.

That’s why the King of Kings came down from heaven to dwell among us.  Jesus Christ, God Himself, came down and became one of us.  Fully divine in Holiness never committing a sin, yet fully human in the flesh, He gave His innocent life so that all who were guilty of sin might have hope.  Through faith in His completed work of salvation we can enjoy the eternal destination of His house forever…Heaven.

When you place your faith in the work that Jesus did on the cross His spirit comes and makes His home in your heart…satisfying you.  He goes on to dwell with you so that one day you might express that which King David believed and confessed:

“And I will dwell in the house of the Lord Forever!”

Genesis 23:3-4

Abraham’s words go deep, “I am a foreigner and a visitor among you”, tell us of his mindset at the moment.  Technically Abraham had spent a long enough time in this area of Hebron, as well as developed in financial status to be able to have a piece of land and be considered a resident, however, Abraham hasn’t purchased land up to this point and now we get a peek at his perspective of himself and his latest situation. 

Something happens to your perspective the moment a loved one dies.  Relationships that seemed to have such a strong connection are ripped from our hands; the people we thought would go on with us forever suddenly leave.  Where did they go?  Questions like this often follow death, and thoughts about the eternal begin to mix in with your current thought process.  You see, when loss happens it brings a very real contrast between temporary and eternal.  The love that you had for someone becomes longing, and that longing desires to continue with those that have passed.  I believe this was the meaning of Abraham’s words.  The moment Sarah died, home wasn’t home for Abraham, it didn’t matter how much wealth and security he had, death plays no favorites and claims whomever… whenever it pleases.

In the same way we as believers in Jesus Christ have a similar longing, a love that is eternal made to wait upon the temporary.  The difference is that Jesus has told us that He is not bound by death, He rose again defeating death and sits at the right hand of God in heaven preparing for us a heavenly home where things that were once temporary are eternally secure.  We’re told that Abraham had this understanding:

“By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to the place which he would receive as an inheritance…By faith he dwelt in the land of promise as in a foreign country, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise; for he waited for the city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God…These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off were assured of them, embraced them and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.  For those who say such things declare plainly that they seek a homeland.  And truly if they had called to mind that country from which they had come out, they would have had opportunity to return. But now they desire a better, that is, a heavenly country.  Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared a city for them.”

Hebrews 11:8-16

The Bible teaches us that through our faith in Jesus Christ we not only hope for, but we are certain of our eternal destiny.  We declare on earth where it is we choose to make home, and in the same way that preparations are made for us when we book into a hotel, we see that preparations are made for us in heaven by our heavenly host, the builder and maker, God.

Genesis 22:6

The knife, the fire, and the wood are three things which lead to the Holy offering that God desired.  Here we witness a sneak peek of what was to come just a few thousand years later on the same Mount between another Father and Son story.

On Mount Moriah we see Isaac laden with wood, while Abraham leads him up the mount to be offered as a sacrifice.  He carried fire to consume Isaac entirely, and in the other hand a knife to spill his son’s blood as necessary for a sacrifice.

Fast forward with me a couple millennia, to when the Roman Empire was in power. There on what was once known as Mount Moriah, renamed Calvary, we see another Son shouldering some wood, in fact it was a cross.  He was being led by His Father up the mount to be offered as a sacrifice as well.  He was the pure and spotless lamb who would become the propitiation for mankind’s impending judgment.  The fire in the hand of the Father isn’t a torch, but a fire of judgment and wrath which was poured out on the Son as He willingly received the penalty for our sins.  The knife was now a spear as it drew blood from His side and the Son breathed His last and said, “It is finished!”

That’s it folks, the hereditary sin of mankind is finished only through the blood of Jesus Christ.  Just as Isaac and Abraham were able to celebrate life instead of partaking in death, we too as the recipients of salvation can celebrate life through the blood of Jesus Christ without having to fear death, sin, and hell.  Jesus Christ has paid the price and given us the opportunity to enjoy entrance into heaven as well as this wonderful gift of freedom and relationship with the Father, Almighty God.

As it is with any gift, it’s the recipient’s responsibility to receive it.  So if you find yourself today in a position where you know that you have not yet received the free gift of salvation in Jesus Christ, what are you waiting for? 

It’s available to anyone, go ahead and enjoy it!

Genesis 17:7-8

According to this passage we are joint recipients of the Abrahamic Covenant. All the blessings and commands that given to Abraham and his seed not only would be for the Hebrew race later to be called Israel, but also included those who would be later adopted into the line of Abraham. Paul would describe it as being grafted into Abraham’s family tree. In the same way Abram and his descendants would receive the promise based upon their believing and obediently abiding close to the Lord, we too would receive this “everlasting covenant” of God’s favor through Jesus Christ who would come as a stranger in this land, and bring us God’s promise of eternal salvation and an everlasting possession in Heaven.

Where “He will be our God”.

Genesis 15:13-15

God would tell Abram that hard times were coming. The generations to come would be strangers in a land that was not theirs. Affliction, bondage, and some gnarly situations would be experienced in that land, but in due time, when the iniquity of the Amorites was complete they would be ushered into the Promised Land.

In a way, God was giving time before delivering the Amorites (or the Canaanite people) to destruction.

Why?

Because God is longsuffering, His mercy is huge, and His love and compassion don’t fail as it’s told to us again and again in scripture. God was not only giving a chance for the people of Canaan to see and respond to Him (which some did end up doing) but God was also prepping Israel for their inheritance.

In the same way, you and I are part of the lineage of Abram, grafted into the family tree through the blood of Jesus Christ (Romans 11). We too are strangers here on earth, enduring through difficulty, hardship, and affliction while waiting for the time God would bring us into the Promised Land of our Heavenly home.

Why is it we aren’t home in heaven with the Father yet?

Because God is giving time for the inhabitants of earth to see and respond to Him…as well as prepare those who are His own for the inheritance that awaits beyond those wonderful borders of eternity.