No man is satisfied with himself until he has subjugated himself. What
makes men restless and discontented is their tossing, anarchical
desires. To live by impulse, or passion, or by anything but love to
God, is to make ourselves our own tormentors. It is always true that
he 'who loveth his life shall lose it,' and loses it by the very act
of loving it. Most men's lives are like the troubled sea, 'which
cannot rest,' and whose tossing surges, alas! 'cast up mire and dirt,'
for their restless lives bring to the surface much that was meant to
lie undisturbed in the depths.
But he who has subdued himself is like some still lake which 'heareth
not the loud winds when they call,' and mirrors the silent heavens on
its calm surface. But further, goodness brings satisfaction, because,
as the Psalmist says, 'in keeping Thy commandments there is great
reward.' There is a glow accompanying even partial obedience which
diffuses itself with grateful warmth through the whole being of a man.
And such goodness tends to the preservation of health of soul as
natural, simple living to the health of the body. And that general
sense of well-being brings with it a satisfaction compared with which
all the feverish bliss of the voluptuary is poor indeed.
But we must not forget that satisfaction from one's self is not
satisfaction _with_ one's self. There will always be the
imperfection which will always prevent self-righteousness. The good
man after the Bible pattern most deeply knows his faults, and in that
very consciousness is there a deep joy. To be ever aspiring onwards,
and to know that our aspiration is no vain dream, this is joy. Still
to press 'toward the mark,' still to have 'the yet untroubled world
which gleams before us as we move,' and to know that we shall attain
if we follow on, this is the highest bliss. Not the accomplishment of
our ideal, but the cherishing of it, is the true delight of life.
Such self-satisfying goodness comes only through Christ. He makes it
possible for us to love God and to trust Him. Only when we know 'the
love wherewith He has loved us,' shall we love with a love which will
be the motive power of our lives. He makes it possible to live outward
lives of obedience, which, imperfect as it is, has 'great reward.' He
makes it possible for us to attain the yet unattained, and to be sure
that we 'shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.' He has
said, 'The water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water
springing up unto everlasting life.' Only when we can say, 'I live,
yet not I, but Christ liveth in me,' will it be true of us in its
fullest sense, 'A good man shall be satisfied from himself.'