I can't get no Satisfaction

Jeremy was an extremely smart young man. He was born with exceptional intelligence and the personal drive to go along with it. Once Jeremy finished college and was in the work force, he began to realize that he could use his intelligence to his advantage. Jeremy was so driven to be successful, that it really never bothered him if he hurt anyone on the way to his next promotion.

On his journey to the top, Jeremy said and did just about anything in order for a situation to look favorable for him. Failure was not an option for Jeremy. He was not willing to learn from his mistakes, because in his mind he had none. It was always that everyone else was too stupid to understand his point and therefore they needed to be fired. Finally, after fifteen years of stepping over (not around) anyone in his path, he became the CEO of a mid-size financial company.

Jeremy deceived and lied to many people. Some of his deception was harmless, yet some would be considered mind-boggling to anyone with a fraction of any ethical standard. None the less, Jeremy's drive, willingness to do/say anything and his intellect, eventually got him to the top.

Every night Jeremy would come home and tell his wife a story about how he had manipulated a certain situation in his favor and that everyone was too stupid to realize how he had "played them". He might not always had put it in those exact terms, but he would angle the story to his benefit. Heck, he even had his own wife fooled.

Even though he had stepped over many people to become CEO, he had done it so cleverly and so insidious that few people (who were still in the company) had ever caught on. Jeremy's mistake was that he loved himself and his ambitions above everything else. He had always thirsted for more. Sadly, he died of a heart attack at the age of 57 after walking out of a business meeting. At his funeral one of his colleagues said this...

"I remember Jeremy as a shiny red corvette. Yeah, he was like a fast car that never slowed down. He never took his eyes off the speedometer. Because if he had, if he had looked up, he would have seen the many road signs warning him to SLOW DOWN, STOP or YIELD. But that wasn't in his nature. Because when Jeremy put his eye on the prize, he went after it with every ounce of his being. And I don't think that he ever had a chance to sit back and enjoy everything that he had...everything that he was given."

* * *

Let's be clear about one thing in this story. God is the sole provider of everything that we have. Our home, car, job, money, stature, health, relationships - everything. Out of love, these things are given to us because He wants us to find joy and in turn glorify Him for these wonderful gifts.

However, Jeremy loved himself more than anyone or anything. He loved the feeling of success. He loved being on top of the world and yet he was never satisfied and was always on the lookout for his next conquest. And at the age of 57 his world came to a sudden halt.

Whoever loves money never has money enough;
whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with his income.
This too is meaningless.

Ecclesiastes 5:10 (NIV)

We can learn a valuable lesson from Jeremy. We too should never be satisfied. We should never be satisfied in our relationship with God. We should never be satisfied with how much we give back to Him. We should never be satisfied with the amount of love or compassion that we show our family or friends. All of us have daily struggles with temptations and many times we may not even realize that we're in the Devil's cross hairs...but rest assured we are.

Don't give the Enemy the satisfaction of pulling us away from our daily duties to glorify God. And before we rest our heads on that pillow tonight, let's give ourselves the satisfaction of knowing that we did everything we possibly could to please God today.

And finally, I am satisfied with this post and will close it here. :)

God bless you. And this is for His Glory!