Maybe you too have seen the recent commercial, where a bearded explorer sporting a pith helmet, excitedly calls his head office and announces with apparent pride that he has found “better stuff!” The good news gets passed on from president to managers and then to assembly line workers, all of them brimming with exuberance. One of the individuals asks: “I thought we already had the “best stuff,” only to be told that this new stuff is even better. At the height of anticipation, with the viewer most curious about what everybody is actually talking about, one feels let-down because the hyped-up product is nothing more than a beverage.
While the commercial is cleverly done, even funny, the feeling of disappointment reminded me of what seems to be so common in our society. We are always looking for “better stuff” that might fill a void in our life, create new excitement or provide meaning for our life. New gadgets, toys, a better car or house, or a higher paying job just might do the trick. But just as in the commercial, after some initial excitement, we settle on the fact that nothing has really changed for the better and we continue our futile search.
May I suggest that our search must not be for “better stuff” but for a person! If we want to have a life of purpose and destiny, I believe there is only one person who can provide lasting joy and fulfillment—Jesus, the Son of Creator God.
In the words of the contemporary singer and song-writer Plumb,
“There’s a God-shaped hole in all of us, and the restless soul is searching; there’s a God-shaped hole in all of us, and it’s a void only he can fill.”
These lyrics seem to echo the words of Augustine of Hippo, who was himself no stranger to the search for better stuff. He had tried to find fulfillment in a lifestyle of pleasure-seeking. After many disappointing experiences and becoming a Christ-follower, he penned these words:
“You have made us for yourself, and our hearts are restless till they find their rest in you.”
In the words of Jesus himself, “And this is the real and eternal life: that they know you, the one and only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you sent.” (John 17:3)
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