Was I satisfied?
Was I happy?
How do you measure satisfaction? How do you measure
happiness? Is it important to be satisfied and happy?
If you are a hedonist, i.e., a person who devotes ones life
to the pursuit of pleasure; then being happy and being satisfied is your raison d'être.
If you are an
altruist, i.e., your life is devoted to working for the welfare of others, and they
are happy as a result of your efforts; you are happy too, but your own
happiness is not your raison d'être. You may gain great satisfaction from your efforts, but your aim and
purpose is to promote the welfare of others.
Whether you are hedonistic, altruistic, or a bit of both, you
may adopt the ethical aphorism, ‘Effort brings reward’. Your sense of justice
tells you this should be the case. Logic reasons that it is fair and right, but
in practice you know that effort does not always bring reward; therefore you
have no guarantee that you will gain satisfaction or happiness. You know you
have no certainty of reward.
No amount of effort will guarantee a reward.
Things are different for the Christian; he is neither
altruistic nor hedonistic, nor is he a bit of both. His satisfaction comes from
selflessly serving Christ for His glory. He does not wok for his salvation, but
because of his salvation! His greatest reward is the gift of eternal life which
is given by God. No amount of effort can bring about this gift, because it is a
free gift - Jesus was given to him free of charge to cleanse him eternally for access
to God.
No gift can be earned, only received. The reward of eternal
life is guaranteed because of the perfect work of Jesus.
John 3:16 ‘For God so
loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in
Him should not perish but have everlasting life.’
Colossians 3:17 ‘And
whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving
thanks to God the Father through Him.’
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