“The presumption of emptiness is the fuel that runs a consumer-based economy.”

A thought by Kyle Idleman, (2015-10-01) from his book, The End of Me: Where Real Life in the Upside-Down Ways of Jesus Begins (Kindle Location 1284). David C. Cook. Kindle Edition. (Click on the title of the book to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.)

Think about when you are hungry and you sit down and you eat and you consume and after about 30 minutes you lose your appetite but if you wait for about 4 hours you feel empty, you will be hungry again.

Take that over into stuff. Kyle says, “In consumerism, we (of course) buy into the concept that our personal sense of fulfillment is directly related to our ever-increasing consumption of goods. A simpler way of saying it: if I feel a little down, I need to consume a little more. Late at night, when I lie in bed and feel emptiness, that’s just life telling me that someone somewhere has this new thing that I don’t yet have. Life is a cycle of ceaseless upgrading of inventory.”

Kyle quotes Mother Teresa who said this, “The spiritual poverty of the Western world is much greater than the physical poverty of our people in Calcutta. You in the West have millions of people who suffer such terrible loneliness and emptiness.… These people are not hungry in the physical sense, but they are in another way. They know they need something more than money, yet they don’t know what it is. What they are missing really is a living relationship with God.”

What if you came to the table to eat and all that was there were pictures of food? You are so hungry so you start eating the pictures but in no way does that satisfy your hunger. It is not the real thing. But that is what happens when we strive to fill our emptiness with things.

Over in the Matthew 6:33 (NLT) it says, “Seek the kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.” “He will give you everything you need.” He wants to fill that emptiness in us.

So is what you are looking to fill your emptiness working?

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