More than 300 years ago, French mathematician and physicist Blaise Pascal identified the human spirit’s main problem. He called it the “infinite abyss,” and said it can be filled “only by God himself."
Pascal was right: life doesn’t work apart from God. It’s not supposed to. He created us for Himself, after all. If we are not walking with Him day in, day out, we are missing our very reason for being.
Until we realize this, our lives can be empty -- or miserable.
We may hide it well, even from ourselves, by worshipping idols of our own making.
For some of us, that means working long hours, trying to prove our worth through the praises of employers or clients or through steadily growing bank accounts.
Others may drown their troubles in alcohol or drugs, or obsess over relationships, especially those involving romantic love.
Then there are those who live for entertainment. That might mean a non-stop merry-go-round of theater, ballet, symphony, films, and literature. It might mean parties galore, or dinner with different friends every night, or Ph.D.-level study of professional or college sports (or both). It might mean traveling to increasingly exotic locales, or reveling in nature, music, art or pets.
And don’t forget those who are consumed with health or gastronomy. They may interrogate everything that passes the lips, or shop and cook artfully and extravagantly. (Was the apostle Paul including such folks when he wrote of those whose “god is their belly” in Philippians 3:19?)
I’ve only scratched the surface, of course. Turn this way and you’ll see people indulging in frenzies of home remodeling; that way, and you’ll find jam-packed clothes closets larger than most living rooms or gardens filled with small fortunes in exotic plants or kids playing endless video games.
Anything to fill the void.
And still, nothing on this earth really satisfies. Nothing comes close to freeing us from Pascal’s “infinite abyss.”
I know whereof I write, having pursued some of these idols myself in the decades before Jesus Christ transformed my heart and my life.
The good news is that He’s willing to transform anyone's. We need only seek God; He has promised that, if we do, we will find Him.
“And you will seek Me and find Me,” He said through His prophet Jeremiah (29:13), “when you search for Me with all your heart.”
When we do this, we can kiss our idols goodbye.
Are you ready to find Him? There's no better place to start than the Bible.
Pascal was right: life doesn’t work apart from God. It’s not supposed to. He created us for Himself, after all. If we are not walking with Him day in, day out, we are missing our very reason for being.
Until we realize this, our lives can be empty -- or miserable.
We may hide it well, even from ourselves, by worshipping idols of our own making.
For some of us, that means working long hours, trying to prove our worth through the praises of employers or clients or through steadily growing bank accounts.
Others may drown their troubles in alcohol or drugs, or obsess over relationships, especially those involving romantic love.
Then there are those who live for entertainment. That might mean a non-stop merry-go-round of theater, ballet, symphony, films, and literature. It might mean parties galore, or dinner with different friends every night, or Ph.D.-level study of professional or college sports (or both). It might mean traveling to increasingly exotic locales, or reveling in nature, music, art or pets.
And don’t forget those who are consumed with health or gastronomy. They may interrogate everything that passes the lips, or shop and cook artfully and extravagantly. (Was the apostle Paul including such folks when he wrote of those whose “god is their belly” in Philippians 3:19?)
I’ve only scratched the surface, of course. Turn this way and you’ll see people indulging in frenzies of home remodeling; that way, and you’ll find jam-packed clothes closets larger than most living rooms or gardens filled with small fortunes in exotic plants or kids playing endless video games.
Anything to fill the void.
And still, nothing on this earth really satisfies. Nothing comes close to freeing us from Pascal’s “infinite abyss.”
I know whereof I write, having pursued some of these idols myself in the decades before Jesus Christ transformed my heart and my life.
The good news is that He’s willing to transform anyone's. We need only seek God; He has promised that, if we do, we will find Him.
“And you will seek Me and find Me,” He said through His prophet Jeremiah (29:13), “when you search for Me with all your heart.”
When we do this, we can kiss our idols goodbye.
Are you ready to find Him? There's no better place to start than the Bible.
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