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Discussion Forum : Devotional Thoughts : You complete me...

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KingJimmy
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Joined: 2003/5/8
Posts: 4419
Charlotte, NC

 You complete me...

I wrote this devotional for the college & singles ministry I oversee at my church, and just thought I'd pass it along.

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Once upon a time in a movie somewhere, a young man gazed into the eyes of his beauty and said to her, "you... complete... me..."

Awwwww, isn't that sweet?

There is this mindset that exists in this world that somehow, in some way, we just aren't whole. That in some way we lack, that we are somehow without, that we are in some way empty and unfulfilled. And when this happens, we immediately begin seeking whatever it is that we need to complete our lives. For some, perhaps some of us even, this is another young man or woman. You know the type, they just can't live if they don't have somebody to hang on their arm. If they breakup with their current significant other, you can be pretty sure they'll be seeing somebody else as soon as humanly possible. Consider the drug addict who just "needs" another hit, or the drunk who just needs another shot. Consider the workaholic who just needs to constantly punch the clock.

Writing to the church of Colossae, the apostle Paul was dealing with some false teaching that was making inroads into the church. The nature of their teaching was that in order to be spiritually all they could be, that they "needed" to keep various religious festivals, diets, and that they needed to subject their body to harsh fasts. If only they did these things, then they would be fulfilled spiritually. The apostle Paul says that this is all rubbish, and is of "no value" (Col 2:23) whatsoever. For the fact of the matter is, the only way to be complete and satisfied in this life, is in Jesus Christ. And such is exactly what the apostle Paul argued. Instead of attempting to find spiritual fulfillment through all the means proposed by the false teachers, Paul said that in Christ, we are already complete (Col 1:28, 2:10) and don't need to go looking elsewhere.

But like the Colossians, we are often deceived by the lie that we need something or somebody else other than Jesus to be complete in this life. I think this is what the Pharisees and disciples had in mind when Jesus was talking about divorce and remarriage in Matthew 19. The Pharisees generally taught that a man could divorce his wife for any reason whatsoever, and then lawfully remarry. Jesus taught contrary to such a notion, which is also popular in our day. Jesus taught the only biblical grounds for divorce and remarriage was in the case of adultery. He taught marriage was more than simply a contract, rather, that it was a bond. He taught that this bond simply wasn't dissolved when the marriage contract was. Such a bond only could be broken through adultery or death. Thus, if you remarried after going through a divorce that didn't end on the grounds of adultery, you are actually guilty of committing adultery yourself in the act of remarriage.

His hearers were shocked when they heard this statement. They said, "Well, if this is how things are, then it's better off that we don't get married to begin with!" To this Jesus replied that some people have been born without sexual ability, then there are others who have had their sexual organs mutilated. Finally Jesus says, there are those who have made themselves eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of God. Or in otherwords, there are people on this earth (of whom we are to all be) who don't even seek sexual fulfillment in their spouse, rather, they have found it in God. So long as you seek fulfillment in somebody else other than Jesus, you are always going to be left wanting. Perhaps the spouse you have one day will be amazing in the sack. But perhaps there is something they simply aren't able or willing to do that you'd really like them to do. Or as you get older, perhaps their body isn't as sexy as it used to be. What will you do? The Pharisees said in such a time, it'd be ok to get a divorce and find somebody else who would be able to do it for you. Jesus solution was for us to find our fulfillment not even in our spouse, but in Him!

I'm concerned that so many of us are running around looking for something to fulfill us or complete us in this life. I fear that by running around as much as we are looking for something to fulfill us, that we simply don't have time to sit, be still, and fulfilled in God. As a result, our light burns a little more dim, and our harvest is a little less abundant. If you "can't get no satisfaction," turn to Christ.


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Jimmy H

 2006/3/25 0:04Profile





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