Living Life by Design

I know a loan officer in the mortgage business who defines his self-worth in how much money he makes. When he talks about his business, it’s not about the people he helped or about the lives that were changed for the better. It’s always about the new truck he purchased, a new horse that he’ll never ride, or the fact he was the #1 producer in his office for the month. He has everything he wants and boasts about all his accomplishments but it’s very apparent, he’s searching for something to fill a void. Something that will make him happy.

Amos 9 speaks about the condition of the people of Israel. Not surprisingly, their condition is not unlike the condition of the people that we see in our society today. People are dying of spiritual hunger. There is ‘a famine of hearing the words of the Lord’ (v.11). People are searching – some try drugs, excess alcohol, power, prestige, promiscuous sex, or wealth. All of this is an attempt to satisfy an unquestionable thirst, a deep hunger that only spiritual food will satisfy (v.12).

The definition of insanity is, “Doing the same thing over and over but expecting a different result.” Yet that’s exactly what the loan officer I mentioned and the people of Israel were doing. There’s only one thing that truly satisfies, and that can only be found in God’s Word.

John 3:16 is a great place to start…