Steps to Christ THE LONG SEARCH
Wherefore do ye spend money for that which is not bread? and your labor for that which satisfieth not? Isa. 55:2.
My brother and I went with Dr. Siegfried Horn on a tour of Europe and the Middle East in 1959. By the end of the tour we had bought too many souvenirs, and we ran out of money in Frankfurt, Germany. We had our tickets home, but only about 70 cents apiece. So we decided we'd walk up and down the streets of Frankfurt and pick out the best meal we could for 70 cents before we starved! We finally found a cafeteria that offered a pretty good meal for 70 cents--German black bread, potatoes, and gravy, and lots of other good food.
We had thought that this would be our choice, but walked for a few more blocks, just to be sure. Suddenly we came to a German pastry shop. We went to the window and looked in. There was the most beautiful pastry we had ever seen. The frosting was as thick as the cake. We went in, and spent the last of our money of German pastry. Then we hurried to the nearest park, sat down by a little pond, and began to eat. We got through about half a bag apiece, and then everything began to look sort of black. We didn't want to throw any of it away, so we finally ate the whole thing! And then we took turns, one keeping watch, while the other groaned in a horizontal position on the park bench. Half the night we sat there. Eating that pastry was really fun, while it lasted. But it didn't last. The fun the world offers never lasts.
Satan has a counterfeit for everything real that God has to offer. The counterfeit may seem to satisfy for a time, but it leaves only emptiness in the end. The one who is out trying to get rich or become famous is searching for God and doesn't know it. The poor man who is lying in the gutter in his own vomit is searching for God. The amusement parks and resort cities are filled with people searching for God. The young person who has made oatmeal out of his brain is searching for God but doesn't know it and wouldn't admit it. Everybody, in the mad search for something to take the place of that vacuum within, is searching for God. The only lasting answer to our desire for something better must center upon Jesus. The desire is for Him. Nothing can take His place.
Wherefore do ye spend money for that which is not bread? and your labor for that which satisfieth not? Isa. 55:2.
My brother and I went with Dr. Siegfried Horn on a tour of Europe and the Middle East in 1959. By the end of the tour we had bought too many souvenirs, and we ran out of money in Frankfurt, Germany. We had our tickets home, but only about 70 cents apiece. So we decided we'd walk up and down the streets of Frankfurt and pick out the best meal we could for 70 cents before we starved! We finally found a cafeteria that offered a pretty good meal for 70 cents--German black bread, potatoes, and gravy, and lots of other good food.
We had thought that this would be our choice, but walked for a few more blocks, just to be sure. Suddenly we came to a German pastry shop. We went to the window and looked in. There was the most beautiful pastry we had ever seen. The frosting was as thick as the cake. We went in, and spent the last of our money of German pastry. Then we hurried to the nearest park, sat down by a little pond, and began to eat. We got through about half a bag apiece, and then everything began to look sort of black. We didn't want to throw any of it away, so we finally ate the whole thing! And then we took turns, one keeping watch, while the other groaned in a horizontal position on the park bench. Half the night we sat there. Eating that pastry was really fun, while it lasted. But it didn't last. The fun the world offers never lasts.
Satan has a counterfeit for everything real that God has to offer. The counterfeit may seem to satisfy for a time, but it leaves only emptiness in the end. The one who is out trying to get rich or become famous is searching for God and doesn't know it. The poor man who is lying in the gutter in his own vomit is searching for God. The amusement parks and resort cities are filled with people searching for God. The young person who has made oatmeal out of his brain is searching for God but doesn't know it and wouldn't admit it. Everybody, in the mad search for something to take the place of that vacuum within, is searching for God. The only lasting answer to our desire for something better must center upon Jesus. The desire is for Him. Nothing can take His place.
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