Samuel knew that his time on Earth was coming to an end. Saul had just been established as Israel’s first king. He offers a last word to Israel in 1 Samuel 12. One bit of wisdom he delivered is in verse 21. “And do not turn aside after empty things that cannot profit or deliver, for they are empty.”
Empty things. What are empty things? Empty things are alluring distractions. Empty things are dressed-up holes. Empty things are flesh-appeasing options to living for the Lord. Empty things are people, habits, actions, or achievements that promise to deliver happiness and fulfillment but always turn out...empty.
Empty things are anything and anyone that we give our hearts to, our lives to, other than the Lord Jesus Christ. Everything else will prove in the end to be empty. Nothing was meant to satisfy the deep longing of the soul other than the Creator of the soul, the Lord Jesus. Nothing else is able to satisfy. To embrace another or another thing is to chase the wind, to seek refreshment at a dry well, to grope for warmth and light in the darkness, to cling to that which is not meant to satisfy but rather to destroy.
The bottom line is that to cherish or pursue or give your self to anything other than Christ is to waste your life on what is empty, and as a result, will leave you empty as well.
However, as Samuel warned the Israelites, there is another way! Verse 20 – “Serve the Lord with all your heart.” A heart given to the Lord will never turn up empty! Jesus is an infinite well of life, joy, peace, and satisfaction! Embrace Him and He will never leave you empty!
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