She Spent $6 Million on Shoes

“The heart is as insatiable as the grave until Jesus enters it, and then it becomes a cup full to overflowing.” – C.H. Spurgeon

Deanna and I were watching a TV show this week called The Catch. The basic premise is that a woman who is a partner in a high-profile private detective agency gets conned by a man who is an art and jewel thief. The con man is so convincing that he manages to get her to fall in love with him, after which he absconds with her life savings and all of her firm’s assets.

Of course, there is a twist, which is that while posing as her boyfriend and soon-to-be husband, the crook actually falls in love with his “mark.” She manages to reclaim all the money he stole, and each subsequent episode features their continued business and romantic entanglements. (FYI… we stopped watching when they introduced two lesbian characters and some of the scenes got a bit racy).

In one of the episodes before we stopped watching, the con man’s new target was a rich princess from some Middle Eastern country. In order to pay off a criminal from whom he had borrowed a hefty amount of money, the con artist had to swindle her out of $10 million. To you and me, that would be our life’s earnings many times over, but to the princess, it was mere chump change. After all, she supposedly spent $6 million on a recent shopping spree on shoes alone.

The moral of the story is that, until we come to know Jesus as our Savior and Lord, we will spend our entire lives trying to fill a cross-shaped hole in our heart. Some people turn to drugs and alcohol while others seek fulfillment in sex and multiple affairs. Still others place their family and their career on the highest possible pedestal, not realizing until it’s too late that people disappoint and so do jobs.

However, if a person places their faith and trust in Jesus, suddenly everything changes. The emptiness is made whole and over time, we adopt a new set of priorities. Now, instead of wanting power, position, and possessions, we learn to find true contentment in following Jesus in this life and anticipating eternity with Him in heaven.

My, friend, if you know Jesus personally, then you understand exactly what I am talking about. But if you don’t, there is still time to trust Him… and to stop chasing this world’s temporal pleasures, all of which will someday vanish like the wind.

“Vanity of vanities,” says the Preacher, “Vanity of vanities, all is vanity.” Ecclesiastes 1:2 (NKJV)

- Rev. Dale M. Glading, President