The One About Chips, God And Satisfaction

; yHave you ever met potato chips you didn’t like?

Pringles.

Old Dutch.

Doritos.

Sun Chips.

Ruffles.

Lays.

Mark Messier was right about Lays — we can’t eat just one. Once we get the chips home we are forced to eat each and every one of its salty companions. Can you say, “carbohydrate addiction?”

Chips And More

It turns out there are foods that can actually increase your hunger when you consume them.

It seems to me that this phenomenon symbolizes much of the human condition.

• We drink liquids that dehydrate us.
• We eat foods that make us hungrier.
• We buy objects that require us to buy more objects.
• We make some money, ratchet up our lifestyle in response, and find we need more income to sustain us.

The harder we work, the more work there is to do. And the harder we play, the more elusive the fun. Ask anyone working in Hollywood special effects, or in extreme sports, and all will tell you the same thing: Yesterday’s thrill is today’s old news.

We always need more.

A Dangerous Time

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Jeff Einstein, media advisor to Fortune 500 companies, observes, “We now seem to be passing through a most extraordinary and dangerous time in history.  It’s a time when profligate consumption — more media, more food, more sex, more money, more credit, more debt, more licit and illicit drugs of all kinds, more of just about everything except time — all but destroys any sense of propriety and proportion, estranges us from God, and threatens the quality of our lives and communities at every level of society, irrespective of age, race, gender, or social status.”

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No Satisfaction

There’s a passage in the Old Testament book of Haggai that seems so shockingly current that it’s hard to believe it was written over 2,500 years ago.

“Give careful thought to your ways. You have planted much, but have harvested little; you eat, but never have enough. You drink, but never have your fillou put on clothes, but are not warm; you earn wages, only to put them in a purse with holes in it” Haggai 1:4-6.

The Israelites, to quote a much later poet, can’t get no satisfaction.

God tells them that life is a treadmill of diminishing returns because they have neglected Him.

The God Priority

The only way to enjoy the sort of productive, satisfying existence God intends for us is to put Him first.

Unless God has first place He is likely to have no place in your life.

How do you put God first?

First in your day. Make your first action a prayer of gratitude and you begin to align your spirit with the eternal.

First in your week. Make Sunday (or one day) a time to gather with others for worship and rest from typical activities. You’ll find you have more capacity for the next six days.

First in your finances. God asks you to think of finances as His and your role is a steward or manager.  Those who know God are asked to give 10% of their annual income to God’s work through their church. Ten percent is a reminder that God owns it all. You can live better off of 90% and trust God, than you could off of 100% and live for yourself.

First in your focus. This is what it is to have no other idols before your Creator.

When you put God first you’ll find satisfaction as He increases your hunger for more.

Where is God in your life? Please leave a comment below. Thank you.

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