Thine own wickedness shall correct thee, and thy backslidings shall reprove thee: know therefore and see that it is an evil thing and bitter, that thou hast forsaken the Lord thy God, and that my fear is not in thee, saith the Lord God of hosts. Jeremiah 2:19

There’s an old adage that goes, “Any time you point the finger at someone, remember, there are three fingers pointing back at you.” We find it so easy to find fault in others, and often absolutely refuse to see our own guilt. I have taken justification of my own wrongs to a point that is laughable now that I have seen myself through the eyes of a just and loving God.

I often think of a time in my life when I stood in judgement of my brothers and sisters in Christ. I harbored anger toward them, not because of anything they did, but because of the light their lives shown on my own sin. I referred to them with derogatory terms such as “over-saved” or “super christian” How could anyone take church so seriously? I couldn’t imagine it. I could find so many reasons that there was no need for me to spend an inordinate amount of time thinking about or serving God.

I sat through the same sermons that they did. I heard my pastor speak of taking up our cross daily, I heard words of admonition about spending time every day in the Word. I heard that God wants all of us, but I thought surely those kinds of things were just for preachers or people who were called into a life of service full time. I was adept at quickly making a list of people who I could “beat” with my form of Christianity. Comparing myself to others who did less was a quick justification that what I was doing was enough.

There was a problem, though… I saw the joy they had. I saw that even though they made the choice to sacrifice their time and carnal pleasure over and over, they had a deeper joy in the Lord than I’d had in a long time. As I sought the kinds of pleasure the world offers, I saw them make sacrifices to serve and live with an obvious joy and peace in their eyes that went beyond the salvation experience I was confident in.

In Proverbs 14, we see a few of King Solomon’s thoughts lumped together that can all apply to the same situation, Although Solomon’s proverbs are mostly stand alone thoughts, and these are as well, when you consider them all applied to a person who has chosen the world over a life dedicated to serving the Lord, they make a great deal of sense.

12 There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.13 Even in laughter the heart is sorrowful; and the end of that mirth is heaviness.14 The backslider in heart shall be filled with his own ways: and a good man shall be satisfied from himself.

For so long, I went my own way, determined to keep my church life and my personal life separate. I laughed and cut up, but inside I knew I wasn’t in a right place. And my heart was filled with my own ways… I looked to my own ideas to be satisfied… but the end of it all wasn’t satisfaction. It was a heaviness that I knew in my heart I should not have. It didn’t matter how hard I tried to convince myself that I was fine, the joy that I saw in others always sat wrong with me.

Are you fighting a battle that looks to find true joy in carnal pleasure? If you’re a Child of the King, you will never find true joy outside of His perfect will for your life. You can continue your search for fulfillment in a sad sinful world, but until you see Him first, there will always be something missing… something that, at times, you can’t even identify. '

It’s Him, it’s always Him. It’s a right relationship with your Creator. He can, and will, bring you a peace and joy that you can’t even begin to imagine when you are walking with one foot in the world.

Try Him

Psalm 1

[1] Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.
[2] But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night.
[3] And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.
[4] The ungodly are not so: but are like the chaff which the wind driveth away.
[5] Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous.
[6] For the LORD knoweth the way of the righteous: but the way of the ungodly shall perish.