The Search for Ultimate Satisfaction
At the 2016 Golden Globe Awards, actor Jim Carrey took to the stage to introduce the nominees for Best Motion Picture Comedy. But his speech was more than just an introduction to the nominated actors; it was, in fact, an introduction to the inner searches of his soul. While he began with a personal introduction, it quickly turned into a painfully honest critique on man's search for meaning.
So after being introduced as "two-time Golden Globe winner Jim Carrey," he proceeded to crack a couple self-aggrandizing jokes about what it’s like to be a two-time award winner.
Carrey remarked,
"Thank you, I am two-time Golden Globe winner, Jim Carrey. And when I go to sleep at night, I'm not just a guy going to sleep. I'm two-time Golden Globe winner, Jim Carrey, going to get some well needed shut-eye. And when I dream, I don’t just dream any old dream. No sir. I dream about being three-time Golden Globe winning actor, Jim Carrey — because then I would be enough. It would finally be true, and I could stop this terrible search for what I know ultimately won’t fulfill me.”
Everyone laughed at what Carrey said, and with nearly five million views on YouTube, people are still laughing. But the source of his humor is the truth it conceals: He was joking about the absurdity of trying to find ultimate fulfillment, purpose, and meaning in the things of this world.
You can watch the video clip here.
Even the wealthiest, most successful people cannot find ultimate satisfaction apart from God.
"For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them" (Ephesians 4:10, ESV).
"The Lord will fulfill his purpose for me; your steadfast love, O Lord, endures forever. Do not forsake the work of your hands" (Psalm 138:8, ESV).
Value Where There Is None
March 23, 2022 (UPI) -- Auction house Sotheby's said it expects to fetch up to $551,000 for an unusual item -- a receipt for a piece of invisible art by French artist Yves Klein.
According to Stoheby’s, “Klein sold numerous pieces of imaginary art, which he dubbed Zones of Immaterial Pictorial Sensibility, in exchange for a weight of pure gold, and he would issue receipts to the buyers."
Oddly enough, Klein (1928-1962) was considered a master of the artistic genre Nouveau Réalisme – New Realism. Yet there is simply nothing “real” about this.
The receipt in question was for a sale of a piece of imaginary art dated December 7, 1959. The receipt will go on auction April 6, 2022, and is expected to fetch the unimaginable price of over a half a million dollars.
Not everything “real” is visible or tangible. Take your soul, for example. It’s not visible or tangible. It can’t be weighed or measured or photographed. But it is, in a true sense, the most real thing about you. And that soul has immeasurable value.
Your soul – YOU – were worth the cost of the life of the Son of God, that you might enter into eternal relationship with God. Yet we don’t see the value, the worth in investing in that relationship.
While some would rather spend their resources on imaginary works of art, spend your time and energy exploring your own worth and destiny.
You were bought at a price! Own it!
“For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s” (1 Corinthians 6:20, NKJV).
"For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul?" (Mark 8:36, ESV).
Every Soul Is Priceless
"A speaker started his seminar by holding up a $20 bill. 'Who would like this?' he asked. Hands went up throughout the audience. 'I am going to give this $20 to one of you, but first let me do this.' He crumpled the bill. 'Who still wants it?' The same hands went up in the air. 'Well, ' he replied, 'what if I do this?' He dropped the twenty and started to grind it into the carpet with his shoe He picked it up, all wrinkled and dirty. 'Now who still wants it?' Again, hands went into the air. 'You have all learned a valuable lesson,' the speaker said 'No matter what I did to the money, you still wanted it because it did not decrease in value. It was still worth $20.'"
Mr. Kays adds, "Many times in our lives, we are dropped, crumpled, and grounded into the dirt by the decisions we make and the circumstances that come our way. We feel as though we are worthless. But no matter what has happened or what will happen, you will never lose your value in God's eyes. Dirty or clean, crumpled or finely creased, you are priceless to Him."
"But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us" (Romans 5:8).