One of the most significant books of the last century was Victor Frankl’s book “Man’s Search for Meaning.” Victor was a survivor of the Nazi concentration camps who experienced unbelievable suffering and cruelty. He was also a deep thinker who asked the questions about the meaning of life, of joy, and of suffering. 

Writing about the pleasures we pursue in life, Victor wrote: “Ironically enough, in the same way that fear brings to pass what one is afraid of, likewise a forced intention makes impossible what one forcibly wishes... Pleasure is, and must remain, a side-effect or by-product, and is destroyed and spoiled to the degree to which it is made a goal in itself.” 

Similarly, he said this about suffering. “If there is meaning in life at all, then there must be a meaning in suffering. Suffering is an ineradicable part of life, even as fate and death. Without suffering and death human life cannot be complete.”

We may not ask the ultimate questions about life with the eloquence of Frankl but we all ask them. Ultimately, apart from God, true meaning and satisfaction in life eludes us. Success is better than failure but it does not ultimately satisfy. The same with money and fame. All of us ask ourselves from time to time, is this all there is? 

There is a wonderful passage in Isaiah 55 where the Lord speaks directly through Isaiah with this invitation. “Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost. Why spend money on what is not bread and your labor on what does not satisfy? Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good, and your soul will delight in the richest of fare. Give ear and come to me; hear me, that your soul may live.” Isaiah 55:1-3.

Think about what the Lord says about what He offers. Water and bread, those things that sustain us in body and soul at no cost. We cannot buy satisfaction. No toys, salaries, or possessions will give it, but God offers it absolutely free to those who accept His invitation. When He says, “Why spend money on what is not bread and your labor on what does not satisfy,” He is reminding us that ultimate meaning cannot be bought but can be received! In Him we eat what is good, and our soul will delight in the richest of fare and our souls will live. It is in God that our search for meaning is fulfilled. For life satisfaction, there is a God answer or no answer.

So how do we appropriate the water and bread that satisfy? How can our souls delight in the richest of fare? The answer is this. To the extent to which we integrate God into our lives we will find the meaning and satisfaction we seek, in the midst of success or suffering, in plenty or in want. The more Jesus we put into our lives, the more of His satisfaction and meaning we will experience. Remember that as you walk through your day today.

Father. Thank you for this amazing invitation to life that satisfies in the presence of your company. Help me to live there today and keep me from chasing meaning in ways that will never satisfy. Help me to find it in You alone. Amen.