Monday, May 28, 2007
Sylvester Stallone's been in the ring for a lot of rounds. Even though he's hit the big 6-0 birthday, he's still doing Rocky - Rocky 6 this time. It's being called, "Rocky's final round." Sylvester Stallone is one of the millions of Baby Boomers who have hit a challenge for which some have not been prepared. It's called aging. I was intrigued with what Sylvester Stallone had to say about people he knows. He said, "You see billionaires who have everything, yet inside they're still the same lonely, insecure people." You think you've got it all figured out, but then you turn 60 and there's this little hole inside you. You realize we're always going to be somewhat half full - or are we.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The 'As Soon As' Syndrome."
That's what I call the cycle so many of us go through in our life journey. I'll be happy, I'll be fulfilled as soon as. As soon as I graduate, as soon as I get a good job, as soon as I get a better job, as soon as I'm going with someone, as soon as I'm married, as soon as I have kids, as soon as I'm not married, as soon as I get a home, as soon as I get a bigger home, as soon as I make good money, as soon as I make more money, as soon as I retire; it just never ends. And 'as soon as' never comes. It's one disappointing answer after another. Until, like Rocky's creator says, we just give up and accept "this little hole inside" us as being "unfillable."
The ancient Jewish king Solomon knew the feeling. He was so wealthy and so powerful that he was able to own or experience every "as soon as" that his heart could conceive: every purchase, every woman, every achievement, every pleasure. Here's his conclusion, recorded in his personal diary, the Book of Ecclesiastes in the Bible. I'm reading from Ecclesiastes 1, beginning with verse 8, our word for today from the Word of God. He says: "The eye never has enough of seeing, nor the ear its fill of hearing. What has been will be again, and what has been done will be done again. There is nothing new under the sun ... I have seen all the things that are done under the sun; all of them are meaningless, a chasing after the wind." Pretty sad, huh? And pretty much the human experience.
But Solomon went on to diagnose why nothing and no one on earth can ever fill the hole in our heart. He said, "God has set eternity in the hearts of men ... Remember your Creator in the days of your youth ... Fear God and keep His commandments" ( Ecclesiastes 3:11; 12:1, 13). What we've been looking for all our life is something that will last forever, something we'll never lose. The hole in your heart can only be filled by something as big as all eternity. And that means only the God who made you can fill it. Not a religion about God, but God Himself, living in your heart.
And that's impossible because of the choice we've made over and over again to do our life our way instead of God's way. God calls it sin and He says that our sins "have separated us" from our God. But He's also acted with unspeakable love to demolish the wall that keeps us from the God we were made for. In God's own words, "He loved us and sent His Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins" ( 1 John 4:10). Translation: I did the sinning - Jesus did the dying. Then three days later, He came back from His grave to prove that He and He alone can give us life that's eternal. For millions, the search for what goes in that hole in our heart has ended at the cross of Jesus Christ. In a transforming moment when you say to Him, "Jesus, the wrong person's been running my life. I resign. I'm holding onto You as my only hope because only You can remove the wall between me and my God. So, Jesus, I'm Yours."
This could be that day for you. If you want to begin your personal relationship with Jesus, I think our website would be a real help and encouragement to you. I've got a simple explanation there of just how to get started with Him. Just go to yoursforlife.net. Or you can call for my free booklet Yours For Life if you'd like. Just call us at 877-741-1200.
That hole inside us is so big only God can fill it. At your invitation, He will - today.