Ever felt like this??? Have you ever been so happy that it was a delight to fall into a blissful sleep? What does it really take to feel this good? Having all the money you want, finally receiving that big promotion at work, the birth of your firstborn child or the day of your marriage? I can tell you that I have accomplished most of these and for awhile I seemed as happy as the dog in the picture. I remember one morning in 1973 when I worked overnight for Norton Company, that I sat back in my office, put my feet up on my rather large desk and felt this way and it was, OH, so nice. I was only 24 years old and I realized that I had already progressed to the point where I had a job that at least 30 people I knew envied. Then, after awhile, I asked myself a question that came from a song called "bring in the clowns"; Is this all there is? And so, I started looking for something better and found it through a gift from a lowly helper who worked on one of the coating machines I supervised. It was a copy of the living Bible, which in reflection was nothing more than a paraphrase of the genuine Scriptures, but something clicked. Something deep inside me reassured me that this was what I was looking for; the elusive satisfaction of blessedness that only God can bring. The prophet Isaiah puts it this way...
Isaiah, Chapter 55
1 “Come, everyone who thirsts, to the waters! Come, he who has no money, buy, and eat! Yes, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. 2 Why do you spend money for that which is not bread? and your labor for that which doesn’t satisfy? listen diligently to me, and eat you that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness.
It has been a number of decades since that eventful morning, but still its memory overshadows all else. The God of Heaven has come into my life in such a way as to influence everything; absolutely everything!!! Believe me when I tell you that God has blessed me in ways that I couldn't even imagine in 1973 and treated me far better than I have deserved. Even though I will never really understand how that dog in the picture feels, I do know the delight God has given me and it simply is too marvelous to put into words. Take a moment and reflect upon your life and ask yourself this one question: Is this all there is?????