“You will never be satisfied.”

I firmly believe the nerdiest nerdy thing a Jesus-loving nerd could say is I love seeing the biblical narrative play out in everything. Movies, TV shows, books, and anything you think is far from the bible is not nearly as far as you think. Doctor Strange, Frankenstein, Les Misérables, Harry Potter are a few forms of entertainment I consumed lately, and in one way or another all point to Jesus without saying it. I feel like it is constantly a race between my dad and I to spot and blurt out these biblical themes as they arise. It’s quite annoying admittedly, but we watch in awe and cannot help but share in our amazement. I especially love seeing biblical themes appear in my own life, especially as I adult. This post is an example of one.

Here is a story about chasing a moving target. Let me preface this story with two things, one, I must be completely honest with you and tell you that my boss does not know he’s crummy. I failed at communicating that and so if anything understand his perspective, he doesn’t know he’s doing wrong. Hold onto that fact. Secondly, if you are reading this, no, this is not about you nor will you be able to guess who this is about.

Do you remember that line in Hamilton, “You will never be satisfied”? That is precisely the one sentence I felt at my job and with this boss. Let’s call him Alexander, hmm fitting enough. Let me emphasize one more time, Alexander is a great man and I admire his dedication and determination to his work. But with the ongoing task after task and assignment overload I faced, I felt as if there was no way to satisfy Alexander.

It was never a “good job” but rather a “well, what’s next?” or “Ok…but did you do this other thing yet?” I genuinely enjoyed the work I was doing, but chasing a moving target is exhausting. You know this. No matter what I did it felt like it was never enough. I put in all these hours and all this work to then see that my target had moved. I remember one time specifically leaving work and from built-up frustration and felt incompetence, I was in tears.

Why am I not enough? Why is my work and my effort not enough? Why can’t I “win”? Stupidly, I began to smile.

Stupidly, I begin to smile again as I sit here writing this. Do you see the biblical narrative naturally unfold in this story? The nerd that I am began to smile because I recognized how spoiled I am through the grace of God. To my friends that do not know Jesus, I applaud you for having the tenacity to muscle through the constant chase of earthly pleasures. I never realized how spoiled I am by the unending love and grace from Jesus.

One way to summarize the bible is this: you are perfectly imperfect created by God. Salvation through good works inevitably fails because of our humanness and sin-like nature yet because you are loved first and fully by Jesus, He paid for those sins. No more moving targets, by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone you are saved. Go and read C.S. Lewis or Tim Keller’s summary of the gospel as they are much more well-written than me.

I understand that idea is radical and absurd and that’s why you have people throughout the bible not fully understanding this. You have people taking what God says and twisting it because their finite minds cannot understand an infinite God. As a result, people do what’s right in their own eyes. Even today’s Christians do not understand grace all too well, it’s why you run into the hypocritical, judgmental, Pharisee-like followers. That includes me at times too, unfortunately. We cannot logically nor emotionally wrap our minds around a Creator who loved us before we were even born. We cannot understand how salvation is possible without having to earn it or work for it. We are so used to chasing moving targets that the idea of Jesus being enough seems impossible. My advice is to let the Bible speak for itself.

For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 6:23

Salvation through Jesus alone is the most comforting thing. To me, it feels like Jesus is saying, “Kira, you are loved fully. You are made worthy. You are created intentionally all through me. There is nothing you can do to make me love you any more or any less.” My skeptical friend, put your name in that quote and read it one more time.

Though the mountains move and the hills shake, my love will not be removed from you and my covenant of peace will not be shaken,”
says your compassionate Lord. Isaiah 54:10

I know that verse nor any of these verses are written specifically to you, Christian and non-Christian friends, but it’s the same God who loves you today, look at Hebrews 13:8. It is the same God who fully loves you and the same God who died for your sins so you can have eternal life, see John 3:16. It’s the same God.

Take other religions, take no religion, do you know exactly what happens when you die and are you comfortable with that reality? Instilling fear or guilt in you is the worst way to show you who Jesus is, in my opinion, so that is not my goal. I’m pressing you because I care about you and I want you to question your own beliefs. I research mine fairly frequently and it always has led me back to Christianity. Why?

America preaches doing what makes you happy, which is a convenient way to disguise “selfish living”. We are constantly pushing to succeed in our professional life. We believe that if there is a heaven as long as we’re a good enough person, we’re in. We’ve made it, but who is the judge of that? Do you see how chasing worldly pleasures will never satisfy your deeper soul cravings? Moving targets exist because we cannot be satisfied by something temporary when we thirst for something that’s so much deeper than that. What are you craving and what worldly idea can possibly eternally fulfill it?

We crave sex but even after sleeping around and having multiple partners, we are still left hungry. We crave money but even after buying that second Tesla, we are still left hungry. We crave fitness and healthy living, but even after we achieve the ideal body, we are still left hungry. There is nothing under the sun that is going to fulfill your deepest longings. Your desires cannot be fulfilled. The world’s desires cannot be fulfilled. They are all moving targets. Consider why those who are wealthy and have “everything” are ones that are the most susceptible to dying by suicide.

For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—comes not from the Father but from the world. ¹⁷ The world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever. 1 John 2:16-17

God “uno-reverses” that idea and states that He is enough for our humanly cravings and our deep longings, for everything.

Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, ¹⁴ but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” John 4:13-14

Through Jesus you can find the fullness of truth and grace (John 1:14), through Jesus you can find unconditional love (John 3:16), through Jesus you find acceptance (Romans 5:8), though Jesus you find true redemption (Col 1:14), through Jesus you find righteousness in the one who is righteous (2 Cor 5:21). I could go on and on about every single craving you have, but this post is long enough. Come as you are and be saved. There are no more moving targets. Your salvation is secured. His love for you is secured. Jesus is enough.

“I am the bread of life,” Jesus told them. “No one who comes to me will ever be hungry, and no one who believes in me will ever be thirsty again. ³⁶ But as I told you, you’ve seen me, and yet you do not believe. ³⁷ Everyone the Father gives me will come to me, and the one who comes to me I will never cast out. John 6:35-37

Now, I know you are all much wiser than me. Good-feeling words are nothing compared to truth so consider everything I say as food for thought. Let the Bible speak for itself. Look into the prophecies, profound statements and this Jesus dude and see if this can possibly, just possibly be more than a book of fables. You are loved fully, created intentionally, and made worthy. Thank you for reading.

I once thought these things were valuable, but now I consider them worthless because of what Christ has done. ⁸ Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I could gain Christ. Philippians 3:7-8