Square pegs and holes in hearts

I remember back in my little kid days playing with this toy, where you had to match the pegs with their same-shaped holes.  The lesson from this puzzle game is that you can’t fit a square peg into a round hole.  Each piece fit in only one specific space.  As hard as a kid can push and jam, or turn the piece around and around, it will only fit into it’s certain spot.

I see how God’s love works the same way.  I’m convinced that there is a space in each person’s heart that is so unique, only God’s love can fit it exactly.  This empty space is such a noticeable void that we know we just have to fill it.  Some people try and substitute drugs, alcohol, money, possessions, sex, -- all the things this world offers, even in excess – yet they still know something is missing, and spend their days and nights trying to fill the void.  I learned the hard way; none of this stuff can fill the spot reserved for Jesus in my heart.  Once I surrendered completely, God’s Holy Spirit filled all the voids, and my former wants and desires are gone.  Good riddance to them, I don’t miss anything!  I don’t miss cigarettes, hangovers, those feelings of being lost, worthless, and life is pointless; and I certainly don’t miss feeling unloved, unwanted, and the nagging thoughts of suicide.  I don’t have a specific scripture reference to back up my theory, just personal experience, and testimony from others.  I see evidence in radically changed lives.

Scripture tell us that God created us for His own good pleasure.  He loves us no matter what.  God loves us so much that He sent us Jesus, His Son, who willingly took the death penalty, and hung on the cross to pay for our sins so that we could have salvation and spend eternity with Him. (John 3:16:  “For God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.) 

Seriously think about this:  He loves us so much that He died for us, and all He wants from us is to love Him back.  That’s it.  So, do you want what’s missing?  Open up your heart, and let Him in.  Confess your sins, accept His forgiveness, and start your new life.  That empty spot will be filled-in.  His love will permeate your entire being.  And nothing – no thing, no person, no experience, or substance – can compare.

Romans 3:23:  For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard.

Romans 6:23:  For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.

Romans 10:9-10:  If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.  For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by confessing with your mouth that you are saved.

Romans 8:38-39:  And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love.  No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.

(all scriptures quoted from The New Living Translation)