The British newspaper, The Sun, recently ran a story about an
86-year-old man, Jack Harris, who spent seven long years working on a huge
jigsaw puzzle of 5,000 pieces only to discover the last piece was missing. As
you might imagine, he was more than frustrated, especially when he learned the
puzzle was no longer in production and there was no chance of finding a
replacement.
Interestingly, the puzzle
was a reproduction of French artist James Tissot’s 1862 painting, “Return of the
Prodigal Son.” But this story has a happy ending, the public outcry caused The Sun to commission a perfect copy of
the final piece, and photographers were on hand when Jack snapped it into
place.[1]
Jack Harris and the 5,000 piece puzzle
That story made me think, “How
many are laboring away at life day and night, growing old, trying to piece
together the puzzle of life? How many get to the end only to realize they’re
missing the key to it all?”
This happened to be one of
the vexing problems in Solomon’s life. Even though Solomon reigned over Israel
during its Golden Age, the one thing that escaped him was a meaningful life. He
had all the brains and all the bucks, but none of made him contended. Foolishly,
in his mid-life Solomon lost his way and he tried filling the void with
inferior substitutes. He opined in his unvarnished journal called Ecclesiastes:
9 So I became great and surpassed all who were before
me in Jerusalem. Also my wisdom remained with me. 10 And whatever my
eyes desired I did not keep from them. I kept my heart from no pleasure, for my
heart found pleasure in all my toil, and this was my reward for all my toil. 11
Then I considered all that my hands had done and the toil I had expended in
doing it, and behold, all was vanity and
a striving after wind, and there was nothing to be gained under the sun.
(Ecc. 2:9-11, ESV)
Solomon’s life was more
empty than a soap bubble. He had it all and tried it all—wine, women, wealth,
work. He had 4,999 pieces, but lacked the most important one . . . God.
Christ is the central
piece—and the central peace—of life.
His pardon covers our faults. His promises ensure our future. His purposes give
meaning to life. And His providence guides our steps. Jesus said in his Sermon
on the Mount. “But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you” (Matt. 6:33, ESV). And Paul wrote to
the Colossians “. . . and you are complete
in Him” (Col. 2:10, NKJV).
C.S. Lewis added his
insights in Mere Christianity, “God made us: invented us as a man invents an
engine. A car is make to run on petrol, and it would not run properly on
anything else. God designed the human machine to run on Himself . . . That is
why it is just no good asking God to make us happy in our own way without
bothering about religion.”[2]
Maybe the bumper sticker I
saw the other day sums it up best. It was just two lines of text. The top read,
“No Christ, no peace.” Then the bottom line read, “Know Christ, Know Peace.”
-DM
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