Topic: Nothing Else Satisfies – Daily Devotional by Proverbs 31 Ministries  18 JANUARY    2023

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Nothing Else Satisfies

JANUARY 18, 2023

“For I will satisfy the weary soul, and every languishing soul I will replenish.” Jeremiah 31:25 (ESV)

When I was a young child, my mother dolled me up in homemade dresses and black patent-leather shoes and took me to church. Sometimes she’d let me skip my Sunday-school class and skip all the way into the main sanctuary with her.

Sliding down the sleek wooden pew, I’d settle in at her side. Familiar faces were all around me in our pew.

To my left was always the old man with bushy eyebrows who smelled of Aqua Velva and butterscotch candies. Not only did he always sit in the same place and smell of the same aftershave, but each time Communion was served, he’d pass the elements my way and say the very same words.

Taking a small piece of bread in his wrinkled hand, he’d lean down close and whisper with butterscotch breath, “Christ’s body was broken for you; take this in remembrance of Him.” He would then place the bread in my hand and pass the silver tray to my mom, with a grandfatherly nod.

Similarly, when the grape juice was passed down our pew, he’d give me a miniature plastic cup and tell me what to do: “Christ’s blood was poured out for you; take this in remembrance of Him.”

Today, I still remember. I remember that memory, but most of all, I remember that God satisfied the payment for my sins.

Satisfied. What a beautiful word. God fulfilled every debt I owed. Paid in full. All my need for saving was fully satisfied the moment I believed that the gospel was true. However, if I’m honest, I don’t always remember to live satisfied. In recent years, I’ve found myself running to other things to fill my hungry heart. Bypassing my Bible, I’ve feasted on empty fillers that only reinforced the emptiness.

I know I’m not alone.

We are a generation of Jesus-hungry women who tend to misplace our spiritual hunger. We take our appetites to the wrong stuff — all fluff — false fillers that never fulfill.

In the mornings we reach over our Bibles and pick up our phones. We scroll through social media, then make ourselves a cup of coffee. When emotions well up midafternoon, we take our angst to the wrong wells — broken wells that don’t satisfy. We go from sugar high to sugar high instead of turning to the Most High. With a phone in one hand and a fork in the other, we consume all day long, but we never have the time to ingest the Truth in our Bibles.

Then, when we find ourselves utterly weary and heavy laden (on the backside of another caffeine crash), we hop on over to Amazon Prime, or we hop in our car and drive to Target, only to miss the bull’s-eye again.

None of those things has ever satisfied. We were made for more. We were made for God. And our Bibles are where we will find Him. It is time for us to open up God’s Word and feast! The One who satisfied our outstanding debt all those years ago does an outstanding job of satisfying us still.

There is a feast that satisfies. Christ, who satisfied our eternal debt, is more than able to satisfy every hunger we have today.

The feast is already on the table. Don’t rush past it today. Pull up a chair, open your Bible, and dig in.

Lord, You satisfied the outstanding payment for my sins. Today, I turn to You and Your Word to satisfy every need I have — every hunger, every hurt and every hole. Your Word is the ultimate feast. Fill me. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

FOR DEEPER STUDY

Jeremiah 2:13, “My people have committed two sins: They have forsaken me, the spring of living water, and have dug their own cisterns, broken cisterns that cannot hold water.” (NIV)

God’s Word is our living water and our daily bread! It is sweet and satisfying.

What else have you turned to instead of turning to God when you are weary and empty? Have those other things ever worked to satisfy your hungry heart?

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