Do you find yourself seeking satisfaction? by Pastor Ed Young

This next line is going to kill you.  You won’t believe this one.  “…and a harem as well, the delights of the heart of man.”  He kind of just threw that in.  Solomon had 700 wives and 300 concubines.  Can you imagine his dealings with his in-laws?  That is all I wonder about when I read that.  In verse 9 he concludes by saying and it is the saddest line, “I became greater by far than anyone in Jerusalem before me.”  This is Solomon talking.

Do you find yourself on a search?  Do you find yourself seeking satisfaction?  Are you looking maybe for the ultimate in some of the areas that I just read to you?  Maybe wisdom.  Solomon memorized 3,000 proverbs and 1,005 songs.  People from all over the world came to sit under his teaching.  Is wisdom your deal?  Is it wine, drugs, alcohol, getting high?  Automobiles?  Employees?  Sex?  What is it?  Psalm 16:4 tells us what is going to happen as we continue our search away from God.  “The sorrows of those will increase who run after other gods.”  They will increase.  We will have a greater and greater desire because we are empty.

You see, we mess up here.  We really do.  And the church for too long has really messed up on this one.  The church has said, sin is not fun.  Rebellion against a holy God is not enjoyable.  That is a joke.  Sin is fun.  If it wasn’t fun, I wouldn’t be tempted, nor would you.  But we have to understand something about sin.  Sin is fun but it is temporary.  What happens when the buzz wears off, when the passion wanes?  What happens when the shine wears off of a new suit or a new car or a new home?  It is empty.  It is a fleeting thing.  If sin satisfied, we would just sin one time.  “Oh, OK, I’ve sinned.”  And that would be it.  But it doesn’t.  Also, and listen to this one, not only is sin empty, but sin also has consequences.  It has consequences every single time.  Some of the time?  No, no, no.  Every single time.

Some of you can say, , I am there right now.  Or maybe some are in the storm phase, others are thinking about calling the travel agent of disobedience.  But you are there.