Full of Christ

By Jerry D. Ousley

            “Man, am I full!”  It’s just something we say after a huge, filling meal.  We can’t hold anymore or it feels like our stomachs will pop!  There are so many in this world who don’t have the privilege of knowing a full stomach.  They get a small meal a day and some may have to go several days without food.  I can’t seem to go from breakfast to lunch!  It makes me feel like a hypocrite or a selfish glutton at times. Those of us who have been raised in a land of plenty don’t really know how fortunate and blessed we are.

            But food digests, stomachs become empty again, and the hunger pains return.  We raid the fridge or run down to McDonald’s for a fast-food fix.  And then we are full again.  This cycle is a daily pursuit for most of us here in the USA and other rich countries as well.

            I have learned (the hard way) that when you get that late evening craving for a good snack that you need to think about it.  In the past I’d just go see what we had.  “Oh, that would be good,” I’d think.  But after eating it I still felt unfulfilled.  I would go through several things thinking it was what I wanted only to discover that it really wasn’t.  By the time I found out what it was, I was so full I couldn’t enjoy what I really wanted.

            Have you ever had a spiritual need for filling?  I mean, there comes a time when it just seems like something is missing from our lives.  We may order a new toy, trinket or tool that seems to satisfy us for a moment.  But then the luster fades and the interest disappears.  What then?  That hunger never seems to be filled.

            As it turns out, we have an empty place inside of us.  It isn’t in an organ, or anything like that.  It is in our eternal souls – Our very life existence.  That emptiness drives us to look for things to fill it up.  We look to food, things, or people.  But all those things, what we eat, what we possess or our relationships with others all seem lacking at times.  It is because we haven’t looked in the right place.  Now, there’s nothing wrong with a good appetite (unless you overdo it like I do), or with owning stuff (that is unless the stuff really owns you), or in relationships with our family, spouse or friends.  I’m in no way suggesting that we give up on these things.  What I am trying to say is that nothing completely fulfills us until we are in a right relationship with God.

            Those who have money only want more money.  Those who have stuff accumulate until a time comes when they forget what they have.  For instance, I like collecting movies.  Not walls of DVD’s or tapes but electronic movies.  Stored on my computer is probably close to 5000 movies. Not so long ago I saw a movie title and bought it but when I went to save it on my computer, I was asked the question, “Do you want to replace the one you have?” (Not so much in those words but it was the general idea).  I already had it and wasted good money (it wasn’t much but still good money) on something I forget was already in my collection.  That’s what happens with stuff.  We tend to forget what we already have.

            Once again, there’s nothing on the surface wrong with having and getting, unless it consumes you.  You see, until you get that one thing that your soul is really craving, the desire cannot be fulfilled.

            John wrote, “And of His fullness we have all received, and grace for grace.” (John 1:16).  In the passage John was speaking of Jesus – the Word becoming flesh living among us.  He is God in the flesh (Emmanuel).  He came to restore all things to God.  He came to undo the mess man had made.  He came to fill that void spot in each of us that we can never fill-up otherwise.

            Whether we want to acknowledge it or not, even if it is unacceptable by social standards, and we are judged for telling people that Jesus is what they really want, that void will not be filled otherwise.  Today we are frowned upon and called haters and social bigots for telling people that what they worship or what they believe is wrong according to the Bible.  People are told to “just do you.”  We are all different.  God made us that way.  But we can’t “just do us” correctly without God’s influence.  Unless we have come to Jesus Christ asking forgiveness for our sin and acknowledging Him as our Lord and Savior, then we can’t really even know who we are.

            But when we get filled with Christ, when that void inside our souls is finally filled-up, then we can really “do me.”  Because now “me” knows who “me” really is.  To be full of Christ is to have abundant life, even when we don’t have all the money or the stuff we think we need.  When we have Christ, what we have becomes enough.

            So, let me ask you.  What are you looking for?  What do you think you need?  I guarantee that when you get full of Jesus Christ, you will only really want the stuff you need.  Life will be fuller.  Relationships will be more meaningful. Come to Jesus.  Get full of Christ!

Jerry D. Ousley is the author of ?Soul Challenge?, ?Soul Journey?, ?Ordeal?, ?The Spirit Bread Daily Devotional and his first novel ?The Shoe Tree.?  Visit our website at spiritbread.com to download these and more completely free of charge.