For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect. 1 Peter 1:18-19 (NIV)
You can have a dream job, the best marriage, and great kids, and yet still have a growing feeling of emptiness inside, because nothing in this world can bring you into the fullness of life that God wants you to know.
How do you fill up an empty way of life? Peter says you can’t do it with perishable things such as silver or gold or with anything that silver or gold can buy.
In order to fill up an empty life, your holiness must be worked out in relation to your eternal future. You are a stranger on earth. Your home is with Christ in eternity, and all you have and all He gives you to do is to be used for His glory in the light of the great day that is coming.
If God gives you the gift of marriage, it’s a partnership to be used for His glory. If God gives you children, they’re to be raised for His glory. Eating and drinking, the Bible says, are to be done to the glory of God. Work is for the glory of God. Don’t live for these things.
As soon as your short journey through this world is over, you will stand before the Father in heaven. You will see the face of the Son of God who loved you and gave Himself for you.
What we have now, in all its beauty and splendor, is only a shadow compared to what we will have in the presence of Christ. Learn to live every day in the light of that awesome reality.
Does your life sometimes feel empty? Are you living as if this is your true home, or as if you are a stranger here?
