Has it happened to you? Your anticipation builds as you begin unwrapping that Christmas or birthday gift. You see the gift through the torn paper and you are now overwhelmed with excitement. You then take the new gift out of the box and can’t wait to turn it on and see how it works. As you flip the switch nothing happens. It is then that you take another look at the box it came in. Then you read those heartbreaking words: “batteries not included”. Of course we can make a trip to the store to purchase batteries, but our gift did not include them.
God has given mankind the gift of life; He is our Creator. However, because of our sinfulness there is something missing. Ecclesiastes 3:11 tells us: “He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also He has put eternity in their hearts…” God has placed within us the desire for the eternal. Our Creator has designed us with a God-shaped vacuum inside that can only be filled by a relationship with Him. We sometimes try to fill that empty space with an accumulation of the things that this world provides. Houses, cars, new experiences, exotic trips, new dining places, and various relationships do not fit into that vacuum. We can pursue pleasure or possessions. We can try to fill that empty space with wine, women, and parties. Yet we will still come up empty. Solomon wrote the whole book of Ecclesiastes to warn us that this life-pursuit of fulfillment will only bring us disappointment and frustration if we leave God out of the picture. He calls this empty pursuit “vanity of vanities”. Man was made for more. We have that longing for the eternal that only a relationship with God’s Son Jesus Christ will fill.
Are you feeling a little empty on the inside? Do you sense that you were made for more? That is exactly how God has designed us. He has made us: “batteries not included”. Find your fulfillment in the Lord Jesus Christ.