One of the characters, Samuel, is a wise old farmer, about 1/4 of the way into the book he says something that hit me between the eyes. Samuel is speaking to another character, Adam, when he says, "There's a capacity for appetite that a whole heaven and earth of cake can't satisfy."
What a piercingly true statement! It doesn't take me long to come up with countless examples of how our appetites never quite seem to be satisfied. Look at how we live our lives - always chasing more and more, always thinking that our contentment lies around the next corner or after the next purchase or in the next relationship.
Have you ever gotten exactly what you wanted, only to discover that having falls flat in comparison to wanting?
It seems that in our American culture, we have embraced the idea that happiness can be found in the new, the next, the more, the better. We loyally serve our appetites, but our efforts are in vain because these masters are fickle and insatiable. The truth, as Mr. Steinbeck says, is that the capacity for our appetites is boundless, and if left to these untrained desires, there can never be "enough."
It's funny you write about this Josh, one of my devotionals the other night was on contentment. (The devontional book is called, "God's Promises for you" by Max Lucado) Anyhow one of Max's notes talked about how we aren't satisfied in our lives one of his examples being how when many of us go on vacation we right away, before we are even a couple days into the vacation, begin planning the next "amazing" trip we must take on our next vacation. There's a verse that caught my attention: 1 Timothy 6:6-10 (ESV) "Now there is great gain in godliness with contentment, for we brought nothing into the world, and can take nothing out of the world. But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content. But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires the plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs." -1 Timothy 6:6-10 (ESV)
ReplyDeleteI know the being satisfied and content with God and what He has blessed me with is something I struggle with all the time and I am now, more than ever, trying to be more content being on the tight college student "ramen-noodle" budget and in deciding if certain things are a want or a need. It's difficult!