COLOSSIANS 2:9, 10 – For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily; and you are complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and power.

THEME OF THE DAY. THE PLACE WE WILL ALL ARRIVE. It takes time for all of us to get there. We must experience failure along the way to get us to this point. For some, the painful journey might be brief. For others, it might take years. It took King Solomon almost a lifetime, but he got there. And what is this place? Let’s allow the wise preacher, King Solomon, tell us. He writes, “So I became great and surpassed all who were before me in Jerusalem. Also my wisdom remained with me. And whatever my eyes desired I did not keep from them. I kept my heart from no pleasure, for my heart found pleasure in all my toil, and this was my reward for all my toil. Then I considered all that my hands had done and the toil I had expended in doing it, and behold, all was vanity and a striving after wind, and there was nothing to be gained under the sun” (Ecclesiastes 2:9-11). To really get deep into King Solomon’s heart, take time and read the first eight verses of chapter two in Ecclesiastes. We will see his vain and foolish attempts to find satisfaction and contentment in life by things of the world. And he had it all. He denied himself nothing; materialism, sensual pleasure, entertainment, hobbies . . . everything the world offers, he bought and had. The result? Emptiness. Lack of satisfaction. Discontent. And that leads us to define the place God will ensure all His children arrive.

In today’s scripture, the Apostle Paul states three truths about the Lord Jesus. First, His deity in the flesh – For in Him dwells the fullness of the Godhead bodily. We need to regularly think on this . . . not just at Christmas. God walked, God walks, and God will walk among His people. We will see Him really, not just spiritually. Such thinking radically changes our Christianity daily. Another thing Paul says of Jesus is an obvious conclusion. If Jesus is God, then all power and authority rests in Him – who is the head of all principality and power. This brings great comfort to us for nothing is out of His control and guidance. We are safely being guided by Divine power and authority that knows no equal.

The final thing the Apostle Paul writes of the Lord Jesus ties us into today’s nugget – and you are complete in Him. Our completeness in Christ is not just in being forgiven and reconciled to God. It also means complete in our quest for happiness and meaning in life. And the point King Solomon makes in Ecclesiastes and implied by the Apostle Paul is the life of human beings is only complete in Christ. The application of this truth is found in the following – All longings in our hearts; all desires in our lives; and all satisfactions for our souls are found in a living relationship with Jesus Christ. He satisfies any and all human cravings, and apart from Him not a single human craving will be satisfied. Christ alone is the source for all human contentment now and into eternity.

So, the question we must ask ourselves on our journey through life – “Are we to the point of believing and living the truth that Christ alone satisfies all our desires, longings, and cravings?” If not, we will get there, but it will be painful, like it was for King Solomon. God will allow us to taste the foolishness of the world to show us that apart from His Son, we will not find lasting happiness, satisfaction, and meaning. Those only come from Him and that through His Son, the Lord Jesus.

PRAYER: “Father, I praise You for giving me Your Son in whom all my needs and wants are fulfilled.”

QUOTE: “There is not a single desire or need in our hearts, even our lives, Christ cannot satisfy.”