Oct292023
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If Happiness is Fulfillment, then Love is Filling the Void of Need

Happiness means fulfillment. So when we are fulfilled, we are happy. If true, then we have a problem. Take, for example, your wallet. Suppose I was going to give you a crisp one hundred dollar bill. I bet you would not say:

“I can’t take it.” 

“Why not?” 

“Because it will not fit in my wallet; it is full.” 

“Well put it in your bank account,”

“I can’t because my bank account is full.” 

We all know well that a teenager’s stomach is a container that cannot be filled. Take my brain, for example. It is smaller than a football, but it is another container that cannot be filled. I went from a doctorate program to YouTube tutorials. How do you break into my office after I left the key inside? How do you take a dent out of the bumper? How do you get a bat out of the house?

So why did God give us containers that can never be filled? Is it to frustrate us so we would never be happy? No, He gave us containers so that other people could fill them. That is how we show our love for one another. We fill the void of need. Remember when Jesus told us to love our enemy? It is actually easy, and here is a suggestion for doing it. I learned how to cook pies really well. It took some practice, but I now have flaky pie crust. I gave a pie to someone I can best describe as “not very helpful.” A day later, the person described the pie as “no greater love than this.” All I did was fill the void of need.

So here is my question: How do we love God? God has no containers that need to be filled. True, but we do. We have a heart, soul, and mind that can never be filled.

Zephaniah, the prophet, wrote three sets of poems. The last poem is the best because he reports that God will save all of his people, lift them up from their hardships, and He will raise the nation to glory. After God does this, Zephaniah reports that God will sing. This is the only time in the Bible that we are told that God sings. When I first read this, I thought about it. I wondered if God would be a tenor or a baritone. Perhaps He is a chorus. After all, He is God. I am sure His singing is as beautiful as are His sunsets, as majestic as his mountain ranges, as deep and profound as the stars in the night sky, and as powerful as one of his hurricanes. God sings because He is happy when He saves. That is how we love God, with our containers that can never be filled, with our heart, soul, and mind. We love God when we trust Him. We just have to let Him.

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