Only Christ

Endless fount of living water
Wellspring of my soul’s delight
O to taste and see Your goodness
Come and fill the caverns of my life
 

Most of us live many of our days with a low-grade sense of dissatisfaction humming within our souls. Always wanting for something but never quite feeling filled; always chasing after something but never really arriving there. Even for those of us who cognitively believe there is a vacuum in our souls that only God can fill, there are still moments (maybe even seasons) where the feeling of spiritual “lack” is undeniable. There seems to be a disconnect between our belief that God is enough and our lived experience. The fact is, satisfaction in God is so much deeper than a feeling. It is too glorious a thing to be confined to mere emotion.

 

In order to be truly satisfied in God, we must acknowledge from the depths of our souls that God Himself is the prize – that intimacy with Him is not merely a means to a desired end, but it is the glorious and all-satisfying end itself. Enjoying Jesus for the sake of enjoying Jesus is the goal.

 

Many of us find ourselves dissatisfied with God because, if we’re honest, our motivation for seeking His face is often to receive the blessings from His hand. We love pursuing Jesus if it comes with circumstances swinging our way. We tend to “feel” content in our faith when things pan out as we believe they should, and we feel discontent and disconnected when all we get  is Jesus. Walking faithfully with Christ does come with far more benefits than we deserve, but if all we ever get is Jesus, then we have enough.

 

The Bible makes our pathway to ultimate satisfaction and lasting joy very clear:

“You make known to me the path of life; in Your presence there is fullness of joy; at Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.” (Psalm 16:11)

 

It is only in His presence that we are fully satisfied. In His presence, we experience a pleasure that far exceeds even the sweetest joys in this life; in His presence, our deepest and most fundamental needs are met.

 

That longing to be loved unconditionally…is found in His presence.

That aching to be fully seen, known and accepted…is found in His presence.

That need to have a purpose beyond ourselves…is found in His presence.

The peace that passes all understanding no matter how life unfolds…is found in His presence.

  

In John 4:14, Jesus said to the Samaritan woman, “Whoever drinks of the water that I give Him will never thirst again.” Though Jesus is speaking to the eternal life found by grace through faith in His sufficient work on the cross, He was also undoubtedly identifying Himself as the source that takes our thirst away, even in this life!

 

We don’t have to long for anything beyond Him again, because He is the only source that will never run out. Every temporal joy has an expiration date, but the pleasures of knowing Jesus will last forever! The person who has found Christ to be His treasure has found everything that he has ever been looking for.

 

A.W Tozer wrote, in The Pursuit of God,

“The man who has God for His treasure has all things in One. Many ordinary treasures may be denied Him, or if he is allowed to have them, the enjoyment of them will be so tempered that they will never be necessary to His sense of happiness. Or if he must see them go, one after another, he will scarcely feel a sense of loss. Whatever he may lose he has actually lost nothing, for he now has it all in One, and he has it purely, legitimately and eternally.”

 

Let us be still and know that our souls’ only hope for joy and satisfaction in this life and the next is to truly know Christ – to know Him as a Savior and a friend, and as the only fountain that can truly quench our ever-thirsting hearts.