The Quest

I read about a convention where Star Trek memorabilia was auctioned off, including a half-filled glass of water that had been sipped by a cast member who had a virus. The item sold for $40. The person who bought it immediately drank it, because he or she wanted to get the same virus the cast member from Star Trek had.

“Bizarre” is one word that comes to mind after a story like that one. But is it really any more bizarre when you start thinking about the things that supposedly normal people dedicate their entire lives to? They will dedicate their lives to acquiring possessions. They will dedicate their lives to sexual conquest. They will dedicate their lives to getting the finest education the world can offer. But what they will find out eventually is that if in their pursuit of these things, they forget about God, it will result in emptiness.

Take it from the expert, Solomon, who penned the Book of Ecclesiastes. Solomon was the one person who could say, “Been there, done that, bought the T-shirt.” He knew about these things firsthand. He went on a quest, deciding he was going to try everything this world had to offer. But he wisely concluded that just as death and destruction are never satisfied, so human desire is never satisfied.

When God created us, He wired us this way. The Bible says that He has placed eternity in our hearts (see Ecclesiastes 3:11), which simply means that in the heart of every man and woman, there is a sense that there is something more out there. It is almost as though we were born with a God-shaped blank inside. And so the search begins.