(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction

Mick Jagger and Keith Richards could not have known how correct they were when they penned this Rolling Stones hit in May of 1965. Jagger had been amazed by the commercialism that was consuming America as he traveled across the country and this song reflects those feelings. The trend has only intensifed since then. Americans are less happy than ever although our standard of living has advanced three fold since the mid 60's.

What was true in '65 was also true when Solomon penned Ecclesiastes and said essentially the same thing. God allowed Solomon to live out a grand experiment in which he basically got anything that his heart desired. Wealth, power, women, knowledge.... whatever he desired to have became his. Solomon's conclusion?? That it was all foolishness and made him no happier. I love the phrase that he uses to describe the whole ordeal, "it was like chasing after the wind."

Today, you and I live better lives than Solomon or any other wealthy king could have imagined. Solomon never rode in a car, flew on an airplane, talked on a phone, sent an email or enjoyed modern health care. Are we any happier though? I doubt it. Are our lives any more meaningful? Probably not. The problem is that we have tons of time saving gadgets that are supposed to "free us up" for the important pursuits of life. Tragically we chose rather to fill that time with more vain pursuits in the constant push for more.

I hope that one day we as believers will be able to say with integrity that, as Paul put it, we are content. Whether in plenty or in want, in any and every circumstance that we are satisfied. Content because we have Christ and that He is ultimately satisfying. That whether or not our greatest hopes and dreams materialize that we will be perfectly joyful either way because we know Him. These words of John Piper are so meaningful to me that I carry them with me everywhere I go, "God is most glorified when I am most satisfied in Him." May we be satisfied.