Leviticus 22 - Gettin' Satisfaction

God has hit me with this "Satisfaction" message in two different ways. I guess He's trying to tell me something.

Leviticus 21 describes the feast of Thanksgiving. It's basically a big meal you prepare for yourself and use the mealtime as a time of thanking God. But the kicker is that you are supposed to eat it all. No leftovers. God wants you to be satiated. And He wants us to realize that the way to satisfaction of through thanksgiving.

Am I satisfied? I don't think very many people are. Including Christians. I know we're supposed to be satisfied, but so many of us aren't. There are too many needy Christians, Christians who continue to sin even though they know it's wrong, immature Christians. All of these point to very unsatisfied people.

Why aren't we satisfied?

I think it's because although we pay it lip service and say Jesus is where our satisfaction comes from, we don't actually believe it. We'd rather worship idols. Pause here, did you catch that? Idols. You see whatever I am looking to in order to be satisfied is an idol. We might think the Israelites with their constant idol worship were pathetic, but I worship idols too.

God created a void in us. Personally I think more friends, better relationships, and being thought well of will lead to more satisfaction. I worship the god of being liked. Isaiah 44:20 says I delude myself and cannot admit my idol is lying to me. But it is not enough to recognize that I am worshipping this idol. To simply try to get rid of it leaves the problem of the hole - it's still there. The hole must be filled with God or something else will fill it.

But how? How can I make sure I am seeking only satisfaction in God? This is where Leviticus 21 helps out - thanksgiving. I need to recognize my very big God. He is able to deliver what my idol never could. I must put my focus on Him and the reality of who He is, which is why I study the Bible so much.

I used to be one of those "read-the-Bible-on-Sunday-while-the-preacher's-preaching" kind of Christian. I thought it was good enough. I knew a lot of stuff from the Bible anyway. But God has set my heart on fire for his Word. As I study it and am comfronted daily with the hugeness of my God, I am slowly filling the void with Him and my idol is simply getting pushed out. Slowly.