Eternity in the Human Heart

Ecclesiastes 3:11 (NIV) -

He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end.

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Today's post is in some ways a follow on from yesterday, though that isn't what I intended when I started writing it. It just appears that God has a few things He wants to say on this topic, and I believe there are still a few more things He wants to reveal yet.

While reading through my devotion this morning, one sentence caught my attention. The devotion was talking about ancient religions, including their idol worship, and it made this comment about the idols themselves: "They knew that the idols weren’t real, but it made them feel closer to the god." That statement is just as true today as it was back then.

We grab for money, for power, for love, for control, for happiness, for satisfaction, for purpose. Really, we reach for anything that we can see, hear, feel, understand, anything that we can fit into a box - anything that isn't God. But deep down, we know that these things aren't real, that they are never enough and never will be.

At this point, there are two ways to go. The first, and the most often followed, is to grab for more and more and more in a desperate attempt to fill the hole that gapes infinitely inside of us - a hole that can be filled only by the eternal and the infinite. If we do this, we will always consume and never be full, stealing from everyone around us and never being satisfied. It will destroy us and leave us, as always, empty.

The second way is much harder, but it is the only one that leads to true fulfilment. We need to ditch the idols and embrace the reality of God. This is what I think I will talk about over the next few days - firstly, about getting rid of our idols, then about the nature of God as He really is. I have no idea what God is going to reveal to me yet to share with you (outside of tomorrow), but I'm excited to find out and go on this journey with you all!