MAIN MYTH || I can find true satisfaction in this world apart from God. Jeremiah 2:11-13 (NLT) Has any nation ever traded its gods for new ones, even though they are not gods at all? Yet my people have exchanged their glorious God for worthless idols! The heavens are shocked at such a thing and shrink back in horror and dismay,” says the Lord. “For my people have done two evil things: They have abandoned me—the fountain of living water. And they have dug for themselves cracked cisterns that can hold no water at all! Those things we think will our thirst leave us more . How do we respond to this? Ancient Way: IT is not out there…so stop looking for it. IT is a myth and an illusion Result = suppressed emotions and intentional detachment Modern Way: IT is out there…so don’t let anyone stand in your way of getting it. Perpetually Blame = the “things” Result = become exhausted Perpetually Blame = social forces Result = become activists Perpetually Blame = myself Result = become self-destructive Deeply Blame = the pursuit Result = become bitter Chriatian Way: IT is out there and it can be found…just not in this world. Creatures are not born with desires unless satisfaction for those desires exists. A baby feels hunger: well, there is such a thing as food. A duckling wants to swim: well, there is such a thing as water. Men feel sexual desire: well, there is such a thing as sex. If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world. - C.S. Lewis - So where do we find true satisfaction if not in this world? Jeremiah 31:33-34 (NLT) I will be their God, and they will be my people. And they will not need to teach their neighbors, nor will they need to teach their relatives, saying, ‘You should know the Lord.’ For everyone, from the least to the greatest, will know me already,” says the Lord. “And I will forgive their wickedness, and I will never again remember their sins.” Our Creator entered his creation in order to make a way for us to know him. John 4:14 (NLT) Jesus replied, “Anyone who drinks this water will soon become thirsty again. But those who drink the water I give will never be thirsty again. It becomes a fresh, bubbling spring within them, giving them eternal life.” Truth: I can only find true satisfaction by knowing God. CONTINUING THE CONVERSATION: 1. Where have you noticed people most commonly looking for satisfaction? 2. Where have you seen the results of this failure to find IT showing up in peoples lives a in the following ways? Perpetually Frantic (looking for better but finding exhaustion) Perpetually Angry (looking for freedom by becoming activists) Perpetually Self-Hating (blaming self for failing to find IT) Deeply Cynical (repressing the thirst and becoming bitter) 3. How does knowing God, through Christ, change the way we pursue satisfaction in this world? What are some specific examples of this from your life in this? 4. How can we love and lead the people we know who are trying to find IT, apart from God?