Filling the Void

“… come to me and drink.” (John 7:37)

“Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.” What is Jesus talking about? He’s talking about the fact that since we were all made for God and by God, there is something in us that will never be fulfilled except by God. Unless we have a relationship and communion with this God who made us, there will always be a sense of dissatisfaction. It doesn’t matter what else we do. Nothing and no one else can fill that place of emptiness within us and bring fulfillment. That is why Jesus invited anyone who was thirsty—or unsatisfied—to come to him.

You may have met someone special and said, I’m getting married!” But after six months of marriage, though you love your spouse, you realize that it doesn’t satisfy that longing in your innermost being. Later on you may have said, “If only I could have children, then I will be the most fulfilled person in the world.” And now you have the children, but you find that while they are a blessing, they can’t fill that inner void and loneliness either. Or perhaps you were living in harsh conditions in one place and God permits you to live in a better place; but after a while, you realize that’s not the answer either.

All of us at one time or another have tried to fill that emptiness and lack of fulfillment with anything and everything, including all the toys that are around us. We buy and we acquire, and we say, “Oh, I have to have that new thing! I need that new cell phone!” Forget about the iPhone 14… you could get the iPhone 20 before anyone else gets it, and it won’t satisfy! “If only I could get the bonus… if only I could get that promotion… if only I could buy that new car… if only… if only… if only…” We try to fill what only God can fill, with things that pass away.

And you would think that experience would teach us; but, no, that’s the deception of the human mind. We seek after things, we finally get them, they don’t satisfy; and yet we continue to seek after more things! But we just learned that the thing didn’t satisfy us. The next thing won’t satisfy either; but people are trading in their cars, switching their houses, or even trading in their spouses, in order to try and fill the void they have inside.

The whole world is doing that. That’s why some of the wealthiest people, and those who are the most successful by the world’s standards, are often also the most empty and miserable. Many turn to drugs or philandering or other distractions—and for what? To make up for the fact that “I have it, but I don’t have it. I got what I thought was the answer. But guess what? It wasn’t the answer!”

And Jesus is still saying today, “Is anyone thirsty? Are you not satisfied? Come to me. I am God’s supply for you to be satisfied.” This promise is for everyone who will hear his voice today.

To be continued...