Holly Eley- PastorTerry.com Executive Team Member

Have you ever pursued some thing expecting it to provide fulfillment? Then once you achieved it, you recognized that it didn’t really provide the sense of satisfaction anticipated?  You are happy that you obtained it, but it did not provide true, long-term internal gratification? You may have even enjoyed the pursuit more than actually possessing the thing.  You acknowledged the disappointment and then moved on to the next thing.

Recently I was watching an interview featuring a Top Model winner. After winning, she was quickly catapulted into a career which landed her commercials and a spot on a daytime TV show.  This was a dream come true for her, but with tears falling from her eyes, she said, “…the lights and camera and the glitz and glamour, everything that glitters baby is not gold, which I quickly learned.” 

I liken this “pursuit of fulfillment” to being desperately thirsty and in search of clean, refreshing water. You spot a well miles away and run towards it with everything in you only to find that the well is dry or filled with murky, polluted water. Yuck!  Practically speaking, what is in your well that you are seeking to provide fulfillment?  Then upon obtaining the thing, you realize that it did not fulfill you.  It may be power, position, a relationship, a sexual encounter, money, a home, a bigger church, getting high and the list goes on. 

The good news is that there is a well that is “like” a flowing fountain that we may drink of and never thirst again!! It is like a flowing fountain in that it never runs dry and we never have to return to the well again…we are fulfilled!  In John 4:13 – 15 (CEV), ¹³Jesus answered, "Everyone who drinks this water will get thirsty again. ¹⁴But no one who drinks the water I give will ever be thirsty again. The water I give is like a flowing fountain that gives eternal life." ¹⁵The woman replied, "Sir, please give me a drink of that water! Then I won't get thirsty and have to come to this well again."

Understand that this is not to say that we won’t have some level of fulfillment when our goal is realized nor is it to say that we shouldn’t have pursuits.  It’s simply to promote awareness that:

Pursuits will not fully satisfy us.  True long-lasting fulfillment comes from being in relationship our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. 

1. We must be careful not to neglect our relationship with Him while in pursuit of fulfillment from “things.” 
2. Pursuits can serve as a distraction to keep us from seeking Him diligently.
3. We mask our yearning for Him through one pursuit after another.
4. Fulfillment through means of “things’ is fleeting.

So, would you like a satisfying drink? It’s on Him!