How to Fill the Void
This upcoming Sunday (May 21st), millions will be tuning into the new season of Twin Peaks. After cancellation and a twenty-five year hiatus, The Return (as its being dubbed) marks the reinvigoration of a cult classic. For lovers of that series, feelings of excitement and anxiety intertwine. We’re gleeful, ready to step back into a place most wonderful and strange, but some of us are also skeptical that this new season can recapture the magic of the original. Personally, the fact that it’s on Showtime leaves me wary that it may go too far into the dark and gritty and sexual rather than tapping into the small-town nostalgia and daytime soap opera parody that made the original run so successful.
That’s when I remind myself that it’s just a TV show. It isn’t life. It isn’t altogether important. If it’s good (or great), then that’s fantastic, but it’s not the end-all, be-all of existence. As humans, we’re all too often quick to place our hopes and values in the quality of our entertainment. When we’re disappointed, we fall into a depression or at least some kind of bitterness. Suddenly, everything in life seems crappy and the days drag as we await the next product to fill the void.
Why are we like this? The answer is simple: human beings are born with the innate feeling that some major component is missing from their lives. So they seek to compensate by acquiring goods, devouring so-called “enriching” entertainment, pining after the bodies of others, etc. But most don’t realize they’re missing the most crucial component of all: God and their need for a savior.
You see, as it has been from the beginning, we are created in the image of God. But we, ourselves, are not Him. Yet in our pride, our ambition, we seek to be Him and find the Truth within ourselves and in our things. But that is foolhardy and impossible, for the only Truth is in Him who made us.
We are petty, vindictive, greedy, lustful creatures who basically never know what’s best for us. Even those of us who are born again, who are Christian, can still suffer from the same disease that is the Curse from our collective Fall from Grace.
“If we say, ‘We have no sin,’ we are deceiving ourselves, and the truth is not in us.” (1 John 1:8)
“But each person is tempted when he is drawn away and enticed by his own evil desires. Then after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin, and when sin is fully grown, it gives birth to death.” (James 1:14-15)
“Don’t you know that if you offer yourselves to someone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of that one you obey—either of sin leading to death or of obedience leading to righteousness.” (Romans 6:16)
Terrible, isn’t it? It sucks that there isn’t such a concept as salvation. Wait…there is? In fact, you might call it Good News aka the Gospel. Christ paid the ultimate and final price for our transgressions. In Him, we are redeemed. In Him, we find fulfillment, our relationship with God, who is our Savior and Heavenly Father and the Spirit that dwells within us in our new lives as Christians.
“But thank God that although you used to be slaves of sin, you obeyed from the heart that pattern of teaching you were transferred to, and having been liberated from sin, you became enslaved to righteousness.” (Romans 6:17-18)
“For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 6:23)
Always remember that in Him is the only hope. Hold fast to that eternal promise. Do not be bound to the world in its fallen state. Seek Him in all things. And if you haven’t yet realized your true nature, may God bring you closer to Him so that you might be renewed. There is still time, still hope, while the Day of the Lord is yet coming.
He is your Creator, your Father, and your Redeemer. There is no greater pursuit than the one that ends in a personal relationship and belief in the Lord your God.
Have a wonderful, fulfilling week and blessings be upon all of you.
