The Creek

Do you feel a void in your life? If so, this post is for you.  

What is it that you seek, success? Someone’s approval?  

Some people are always looking to the next thing they need, others just plan to keep working until they feel fulfilled.  Still, others look for a pill to take away the feeling altogether.  There is a long list of “miracle drugs” for whatever ails you, each with an even longer list of side effects.  

Maybe you think if you lost ten pounds, all your problems would be gone.  As a trainer, I hear this all the time.  When you think of fitness in that way, you are destined to fail.  Gimmicky diets will cost you muscle, which burns fat, so when you go back to your normal eating you will gain it all back and more.

There is no fast and easy way. You must be willing to put in the work.  There is no need to purchase new and fancy equipment, special supplements or expensive drinks and foods.  You can work with anything, as long as you are willing to work.

Will being in the best shape of your life fill the void?  The answer will be no.  You will feel better about yourself, your health will be improved  and others will notice, but…

There is always that word, but. If someone gave you your dream car, will it satisfy you?  Maybe you will feel good for a time, but I would guess you will not find fulfillment, purpose or peace in a car.

The media is full of tales of the richest, most beautiful people in the world, who are not happy.

It is not just modern man that seeks to fill what they think they are missing.

One of history’s most well-known adventure tales first appeared in a text in 1180 AD. It was Chrétien de Troyes a verse romance written in French, the Conte del Graal (‘Story of the Grail’), or just, Perceval.

The Grail is said to bring the person who has it happiness, health, eternal youth and eternal life.  It was an instant hit. People today still search for the “Grail,” which was the cup that Jesus drank out of at the Last Supper.

The whole romantic search for the Grail is just that, a fictional story.

It is not the Grail that brings these things.  The grail was just a cup.  According to Jesus’ own words, the secret to life is not in the cup.  It lies in what the drink inside the cup represented.

John 6:53-58

So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him. As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever feeds on me, he also will live because of me.

There it is, written in the book that is the all-time bestseller, the Bible. The Holy Grail is available for all of us.

We’re all sinners, and as a result, we all fall short of the glory of God.  We can’t get into heaven on our own merit.  So, God sent his son Jesus to earth to live as a man, with the purpose of being a holy sacrifice for our sins.  So that anyone who believed in him and accepted the gift of salvation, can spend eternity with God in heaven.  That, is the holy grail – the forgiveness of sins.

At the Last Supper, before Jesus was nailed to a cross for our sins, he shared the cup, the grail, and told his closest friends that anyone who “drinks of the cup” which represents the blood of his sacrifice, will live eternally.  

I once only believed only in myself.  I thought religion was for others, for weak people.  I searched all over for whatever the next thing would be that could fulfill my needs.  Now I’ve come to understand that only Jesus fills the void.