Day 10

Luke 15

Freedom! Free to do what I want, when I want, how I want, if I want.

Anyone who has left home for college or a new job or their first unsupervised trip knows the excitement of being free – free from rules, free from expectations, free from restraint.

The younger son must have believed he could live like Solomon, who in Ecclesiastes said “I said in my heart, ‘Come now, I will test you with pleasure; enjoy yourself.’” (Eccl. 2:1, ESV)

With each new sensual, sensory adventure, the boy experienced something he never had before – but it wasn’t quite enough; he still wasn’t satisfied. Each time, he needed a little more intensity, more frequency, something new and different.

How often do we believe Satan’s lie when he says “you deserve better, more, nicer, newer.” Whether it’s a new lover, a nicer house, a bigger car, the latest gadget, the vacation of a lifetime – one of Satan’s favorite phrases is “if only”. If only I wasn’t bogged down with these responsibilities, this spouse, these kids, this lousy job. If only I was in charge for a day!

But nothing filled the hole in his heart. No pleasure he experienced lasted. He searched, and tried, and experimented, only to find, as Solomon did, that “this also was vanity” (Eccl 2:2 ESV).

We, too, find that nothing satisfies our soul – except the living God.


Lee Thrasher