deceiver or deceived?

"But evil men and seducers shall 

wax worse and worse, 

deceiving and being deceived"

(2 Timothy 3:13)

When we read this scripture, we tend to turn our minds toward all those people that we have deemed as deceptive in our lives. We think about the unsaved. The unchurched. Those who deny the power and existence of Christ. But rarely do we put our own selves into that equation. 

Sadly, we are deceiving ourselves in that thinking. We deceive our own minds into thinking that what we do is not nearly as bad as what others do. We deceive ourselves into thinking that our sin is somehow not that bad. We don't see that we are indeed 'evil men' at times. 

We deceive ourselves by buying into the world's agenda. The 'American Dream' hijacks our thinking and we seem to think that if we only had this or if we only had that we would then be happy. Oh, how wrong that thought process is. We want nicer cars, better homes, more clothes, more 'stuff' and bigger and better toys.

We don't find satisfaction in our daily lives so we search for it in all the wrong places. All the wrong venues. We seek and we seek and we deceive ourselves into thinking that we can find this satisfaction outside of God.

Truth is, the only way we will find complete satisfaction in our lives is in our intimate search of Jesus. Only by drawing closer and closer to Him will we ever find a contentment that truly gives us peace. And rest. And joy.

There are plenty of deceivers in our world just waiting to infiltrate our lives. Just waiting to get into our thoughts and into our actions. We need to be on guard that we, ourselves, don't become our own worst enemy. 

We must keep ourselves engrossed in the Word of God. Filling our minds with things that matter. His things. His Words. His commands.

The world would have us think we can find rest in the temporal. I look around my house and see many things that serve no purpose. They are there just for aesthetic purposes. Just to look nice. How much money have I spent on things that have absolutely no eternal value at all. Somehow we think that if we surround ourselves with pretty things...with nice things..with the luxuries of this world, then we will be okay. But that is so far from the truth. We will never find perfect peace in anything or anybody or any place other than in the arms of Jesus.

He alone satisfies. He alone fulfills us. He alone keeps us wrapped in peace. If we search anywhere else for that comfort, we will come up short every time. Temporal never trumps eternal. Never.

Temporal satisfies for a season. Eternal satisfies deeply, completely and from everlasting to everlasting. Don't let the deceivers of this world cause you to seek satisfaction anywhere except in Jesus. He alone can satisfy the longings of our hearts. He is enough. 

Thank you, sweet Jesus, that You alone are enough to satisfy. Help me to keep my eyes on You and to keep my focus on eternal things. I don't need 'stuff' to make me complete. I only need You. I only want You. You fulfill me and complete me and you are truly enough.