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THE NORTHERN KENTUCKY SEARCHER VOLUME 4, NUMBER 6, FEBRUARY 8, 2004 A LONELY WORLD – PART 2 2. People who live in sin are lonely. At the root of sin, when you think about it, is selfishness. Eve was tempted by the desire to be like God in Genesis 3:6. Man is tempted when “he is drawn away of his own lust and enticed” (James 1:14). Sin results in separation, isolation from God and often from our fellow man. Nevertheless our world today continues to send the message that having fun by living in sin will make us happy. So many buy into the silly cycle of bars and clubs, drinking and dancing, and satisfying physical desires – and when all is said and done, they are still alone. Real happiness lies in being close to God and close to others, not in pursuing selfish pleasures. I think of Moses and the statement made concerning him in Hebrews 11:24-25. There we find, “By faith Moses, when he was come to years, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter; choosing the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt: for he had respect unto the recompense of the reward.” Moses chose God’s people over sin. He chose people, relationships that meant something, and righteousness over sin. Loneliness can be defeated by putting others first ahead of ourselves. Selfishness brings about sin and creates loneliness and isolation even in a crowd. Selflessness creates intimacy and closeness. 3. People who have no purpose in their lives are lonely. So many folks feel so empty. They get up in the morning and go to work, they come home; day after day and year after year. They feel a sense of discomfort, wondering if that is all there is to life. They make money, they spend money. They have marriages, children and friends. Yet, they feel empty. They have no sense of a higher purpose, other than making it through another day. They feel alone. Some folks try to fill that empty spot with social pursuits. Others get some kind of a hobby. Others seek higher education or athletic skills; perhaps physical fitness or a thousand other pursuits aimed at hiding that feeling of aimlessness that plagues so much of mankind. The truth is that only in God can man find a higher purpose with real quality and lasting power. Again, after devoting himself to a search for happiness and contentment, in an attempt to find real meaning in life, Solomon’s conclusion was, “Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear god, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man. For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil” (Eccl. 12:13-14). Only by learning about God, only by submitting to God, only by following God’s will for life can anyone discover real satisfaction. To pursue any other goal will ultimately end in disappointment. I believe this is part of what Jesus was saying in Matthew 16:24-25, when He said, “If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it.” When people attempt to find purpose without God they ultimately fail, no matter how noble the cause. But with God, people find both purpose and fulfillment. Any life lived without God at its center will turn out to be a lonely life. 4. People are lonely who do not know God. In Paul’s address to the Athenians on Mars’ Hill in Acts 17, he stated in verses 26-28, “He made from one, every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined their appointed times, and the boundaries of their habitation, that they should seek God, if perhaps they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us: for in Him we live and move and exist; as even some of your own poets have said, For we also are His offspring.” This sums up the basic problem of loneliness. God created man to seek Him and to know Him. When man sins, he isolates himself from God. Yet, created to know God and to serve Him, to be isolated from Him is to be without purpose, without any real satisfaction. To be isolated from God is contrary to our very reason for being. Remember Paul’s words in 1 Corinthians 6:13. In the second part of that verse he wrote, “Now the body is not for fornication, but for the Lord; and the Lord for the body.” Without God, we cannot fulfill our very purpose for existence and that is the height of loneliness. We will wrap this up next week, if the Lord wills. Greg Litmer DADDIESI would rather be the daddy…Of a romping roguish crew… Of a bright-eyed chubby laddie…And a little girl or two… Than the monarch of a nation…In his high and lofty seat… Taking empty adoration…From subjects at his feet. I would rather own their kisses…As at night to me they run… Than to be the king who misses…All the simpler forms of fun… When his dreary day is ending…He is dismally alone… But when my sun is descending…There are joys for me to own. He may ride to horns and drumming…I must walk a quiet street… But when once they see me coming…Then on joyous, flying feet… They come racing to me madly…And I catch them with a swing…And I say it proudly, gladly…That I’m happier than a king. You may talk of lofty places…You may boast of pomp and power…Men may turn their eager faces…To the glory of the hour. But give me the humble station…With its joys that long survive… For the daddies of a nation…Are the happiest men alive. Edgar A. Guest.
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