Olympics, Commercials, and Fulfillment

So I’ve been watching the Olympics fairly religiously for the last couple of nights. In fact, even while I was two-stepping last night, I found myself glued to the TVs at Billy Bob’s watching Nastia Liukin and Shawn Johnson go 1-2 in the women’s all-around gymnastics competition (congratulations ladies).

But much like the Super Bowl, the commercials have been quite entertaining. The one that really caught my attention though was one for United Airlines (I think).

It opened with a woman and a man (cartoon) embraced in a hug, and as the woman breaks away, she removes her heart and slips it into his jacket pocket as they once again embrace before she leaves on her trip across the ocean.

Throughout the rest of the commercial, she’s gives a business presentation, goes sight seeing in what looks to be someplace like Italy, and even runs into a curious little bird who flies right through the hole where her heart once was. Throughout the entire commercial, she has this hole from her heart, and no matter what she’s doing, it just can’t be filled until she gets back home to Mr. Right who hands it back to heart. Now that she is with him once again, she is whole.

Now, being the hopeless romantic that I am, I was thinking to myself, “Awww, that’s nice.” And would even like to be that guy who is the only one in the whole world with her heart, and the only one who can give it back to her and fill that hole in her life (how bout we keep this between us though, I’ve got a reputation to uphold).

But then it hit me.

We as people do this all the time. Young men and women alike give their hearts away to whoever their boyfriend/girlfriend is at the moment, and very rarely protect themselves by guarding their heart.

But their flame doesn’t always have to be a person either. How about the Olympic athletes? Would it be safe to say that many of them have given their heart to their respective sports? I don’t think that would be a far cry at all. What happens when their career is over? Or when injuries happen? Or when they fall off their apparatus, or foul out, or when they don’t do anything wrong but because of someone else’s folly, they’re eliminated?

And what about those who have given their hearts, like the young woman in the commercial, to another person? How many times have we all consoled a friend who has been hurt by someone, even when it was unintentional by the offending party? What happens when that person who we’ve put so much time and energy into walks away and leaves us devastated in the wake of an emotional breakup?

You see my friends, we were all created to give our hearts away in some form or fashion. The question is, to whom or to what will you give it to? When we give it to people, or objects, or expectations, we are inevitably let down. Why? Because no one and nothing on this earth is perfect.

However, there is hope. You see, we were created by someone to give Him our heart. It is by no accident that we have within us a desire to give ourselves away to something. It is because there is an Almighty, perfect, loving God who has shaped us in our mother’s womb (Ps 139:12-14), and knows everything about us (Ps 139:1), and still loves us enough to adopt us as sons and daughters (1 John 3:1). And here is the love that has been poured out on us, while we were still in sin, Christ died for us, the just for the unjust. (Rom 5:8, 1 Pe 3:18)

But the question remains… Who or what have you given your heart to? You should feel free to try whatever you like, but please know this, if it is anything but Jesus, you will never be satisfied. The simplicity of salvation is what makes it so incredibly beautiful. While it is nothing that we have done for ourselves (Eph 2:8-9), Christ has done everything for us (Rom 5:6). And instead of it being some esoteric journey to find inner-enlightenment within our own wicked hearts (Jer 17:9-10), God has set his plan of salvation in motion so that all we would have to do is confess with our mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in our hearts that God has raised him from the dead, then we shall be saved! (Rom 10:9-10)

Won’t you consider that today my friend? Would you look at the Son of God who gave himself for you and say yes to his invitation to new life? Would you say yes to his grace and love that was poured out for you on Calvary? Would you accept the forgiveness that he freely gives? Would you accept him as Lord? I can not put into words how much I deeply wish that you would.

And for you fellow Christian, would you begin to find your contentment once again in the one who has given you life? Would you move to leave behind the comforts of this world that you and I put our hope and trust in, and instead, rely on Christ to show us how to live by the Spirit of God? I would encourage you to do just that. May we truly walk in the Spirit so as not to fulfill the desires of the flesh.

-Jeff