Filling the Empty Basket
When was the last time that you were longing for something to eat even though you were not really even hungry? You just felt like eating, so you went to the refrigerator or kitchen pantry and found something, anything. But, even after eating, you still had an “emptiness” somewhere deep inside. Or maybe, it is not food, but instead, career, popularity, relationships, wealth, sculpted body, hobbies, possessions, sex, that you look to, to fill the emptiness.
We all experience some sort of longing, an emptiness. We all feel some void in our soul. And we look to satisfy that longing and fill that void with all sorts of things, some I just mentioned. Be honest, none of the worldly things we seek after completely fill the longing and emptiness. We experience temporary satisfaction, but never lasting. And if a little bit does not help, maybe more and more will. Again, only temporary, never lasting. We try to fill our baskets with all kinds of goodies. Goodies never provide lasting satisfaction to our hungering and thirsting. But God’s goodness does. What is goodness? It is love in action. And through His actions, God shows us goodness. We find these words in Psalm 107:9 – “For He satisfies the longing soul, And fills the hungry soul with goodness (NKJV).”
I believe that God made each one of us, wonderfully made I might add (Psalm 139:14), with a hole in our soul that only he can fill. He desperately desires to be in relationship with you and with me. That relationship however is severed by sin and can only be rightly restored through God’s Son, Jesus. Romans 3:23-24 tells us “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus.”
Looking for satisfaction outside of God only leads to dissatisfaction, and ultimately more emptiness. Whereas, filling that empty place in your soul with Jesus always brings the “richest of fares.” Putting your trust in Jesus and spending unhurried time with him will satisfy you like nothing else ever will. Always. Every time. We find these words in Isaiah – “Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost. Why spend money on what is not bread, and your labor on what does not satisfy? Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good, and you will delight in the richest of fare. Give ear and come to me; listen, that you may live. I will make an everlasting covenant with you, my faithful love promised to David” (55:1-3).
Is your basket empty? If you say it is filled, is it full of the right things? Do you fill it with the world’s goodies or with God’s goodness? The former will always leave us eventually feeling empty, whereas the latter, always a lasting “fat and happy” contentment!
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