Complete in Christ

Have you ever thought about the effect of sin in the world in terms of the "incompleteness" it brings to every strata of life: marriage, family, friends, employment, etc.?  I was thinking about that this morning.  People are hurrying and scurrying about in their various endeavors of life, driven by the tyranny of the urgent, seeking completeness.  And it's never going to happen this side of heaven.  John Eldridge puts it this way, "The incompleteness we seek to relieve in the deep embrace of our earthly love is never fully healed."  So I ask myself, why do I so often fly to the people or things of this world to try to gain a sense of completeness?   And why am I so often surprised at the sense of frustration I experience at the deepest level of my being?  I will forever be incomplete in this world.  It is freeing to accept that reality.   For those who are putting their hope for that completeness in wives or husbands, children, employment, athletics, accumulating things, or partying--you fill in the blank--they are chasing (as the old 60s song goes) the elusive butterfly.   It never fully satisfies.  My heart can only find ultimate peace, satisfaction, and significance in Christ.   These thoughts draw my heart to heaven and move my soul to long for that moment when the completion that I so desperately long to experience finds its fulfillment in the One who accomplished its possibility by dying on the cross and rising from the dead.   We need to live life with a heavenly perspective which helps to deliver us from unrealistic expectations for others and ourselves, perfectionism, criticism, and so much more.  It provides a motivation for encouragement and building others up--for creating community.   This truth is so very freeing! It releases us from the shackles of this world and frees us to fly to Christ to enjoy the life He brings to those who love Him.  Oh, Lord, help us to love You with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength.