Filled with Christ

 

In my family, as with most American families, we gather together at Thanksgiving and have a ridiculously large feast. We will have roasted and smoked turkey, mashed potatoes, rolls, sweet potatoes, green bean salad, stuffing, several types of pecan pies, apple pies, pumpkin pies, and assorted other appetizers, snacks, and candies. By the end of the day, I will be sprawled out on a couch, in a daze, stuffed to the gills. Every craving and appetite fully satisfied, and to excess. You could ask me, "You want a peanut butter cup?" (which is my favorite candy), and I would say, "No, I couldn't possibly eat another bite!"  In that state of satisfaction to near stupefaction, any form of food and drink holds no appeal for me. Gordon Ramsey himself could show up to offer me a gourmet meal, but I would have no desire for it because I was so full. In that state, the thought of eating more almost becomes unpleasant.

The devil often comes to us with many delectable treats, with assorted pleasures and delights of this world, "the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life."  Satan knows our appetites and desires all too well. He knows what we want and will dish up exactly what our lusts are craving, and he attempts to lures us away from God and into sin and destruction.

We certainly may resist his schemes by willpower, by pure mental fortitude, but that is often less than effective. Satan knows how to wear us down and jab us at our most vulnerable moments. What is far more effective is turning our attention away from the temptation and focusing on something else. Far better than this, is ensuring that all of our desires and cravings are fully satisfied before the temptation even arises. If all of our hungering and thirsting is quieted, Satan's bait loses its appeal. It is far easier to resist sin when we have no appetite for it.

Colossians 2:10 says this, "And ye are complete in [Christ], which is the head of all principality and power."  In Christ we are made complete, we lack nothing. In Christ, every need is met. We often feel like a part of us is missing and we seek to fill it with all manner of Christ-substitutes like relationships, money, porn, drugs, alcohol, and work. Of course, these things can never fill the hungering that only Christ was meant to fill. In the end, these idols only serve to make our hungering worse. Christ is far better than anything this world offers and is the only one who can quench the thirsting of our souls.

In Ephesians 3, Paul offers this prayer for the church in Ephesus, "That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God."(3:17-19)  This is one of those verses that just explodes off the page.  The love of God is truly infinite, and the more we are able to comprehend it, the more we will be filled with the fullness of God. God wants to pour his love into the empty places in our hearts. Every crevice, crack, nook, and cranny he wants to fill. Those places where we most want to hide, the dark places where our deepest shame lies, God wants to shine the light of his love give us healing and new life. He wants us to know fullness and abundance.

If we can open our hearts and minds to receive this love and allow ourselves to be fully satisfied in Christ, every other longing and craving in our heart will fade. Our compulsions lose their power when we are filled with the fullness of God. All our hungerings are quieted when have feasted on the love of God. The fires of addiction are extinguished when we are submerged in his boundless joy. Only in Christ will our deepest desires be freely and fully satisfied, and in that satisfaction we can find the freedom we desperately need.

Robert Murray McCheyne said this, "Learn much of the Lord Jesus. For every look at yourself, take ten looks at Christ. He is altogether lovely. Such infinite majesty, and yet such meekness and grace, and all for sinners, even the chief! Live much in the smiles of God. Bask in his beams. Feel his all-seeing eye settle on you in love, and repose in his mighty arms... Let your soul be filled with a heart-ravishing sense of the sweetness and excellency of Christ and all that is in Him. Let the Holy Spirit fill every chamber of your heart; and so there will be no room for folly, or the world, or Satan, or the flesh."

To break free from the power of sin and addiction we must be overcome by a superior desire. It is not enough to simply reject the evil; we must pursue the good. When we find Christ more appealing, more desirable, we will find him more gratifying than anything Satan may tempt us with. Christ is better than porn, food, drink, status, power, or anything else. When our hearts are filled with Christ, there is no sin so appetizing that can pull us away.

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