Which Basket Carries the Most Eggs of Your Joy?

We’ve heard the saying most of our lives: “Don’t put all your eggs into one basket.” Originally, this meant that if you went out to get the eggs from your chickens, don’t put all those egg into one basket alone, for if you were to trip and drop the basket, then either all, or the great majority, of your eggs would be doomed. It is best to put your eggs into multiple baskets so that if you do drop one, then you still have plenty of eggs left in other baskets.

While the analogy is not perfect (what analogy IS perfect!?), let us consider our own joy and satisfaction for a moment. Which “basket” have you placed most of your “eggs of joy/satisfaction” into? There are numerous possibilities as to where we can place our “eggs of joy”: Money, Youth, Family, Respect and Honor, Good Health, Great Accomplishments, our Upright Moral Character, and innumerable others. Which of these “baskets” do you place the most eggs? From which areas of your life are you trying to extract the most joy and satisfaction?

Let us, now, go through each of the “baskets” mentioned above and show how they are insufficient to provide the lasting joy and satisfaction for which we are searching. Maybe you are putting your hope in money and financial gain to bring about joy in your life? What is the problem with this? All it takes is a stock market crash, or some other type of downturn in our economic structure, to see the frailty of finances to bring about the joy we desire.

Maybe you are dependent upon your youth, your young age to bring about some type of joy? Age will take care of this one for you. Each day we get older and, like it or not, our mobility and physical capacity decrease as the years press on. This is ultimately unavoidable even though diet and exercise, and other factors, can help to slow down the process. Ultimate, our youth will be swallowed up by old age.

Suppose we put our hope in family to bring us ultimate satisfaction. This could be our family of origin (mother, father, siblings, etc.) or it could be our immediate family (spouse, children, etc.). Where could family let us down in our pursuit for joy? First of all, people die. Spouses and children can die today. Mothers and fathers and siblings will die as well. This not meant to depress, but it is reality. People can be taken from us in an instant. We need to enjoy our family while they are here, but we must always realize that we cannot lean too hard upon people for joy or satisfaction, for it is 100% guaranteed that they will leave us unless we leave them first via the grave. Additionally, maybe you find great acceptance and support from your family. What do you do, then, whenever you family rejects you and no longer accepts you? It happens all the time. People are fickle, life is hard, minds change, and you never know where life will take you. It is, to say the least, unwise to put too many “eggs of joy” into the “family basket,” for life can sever that union in an instant through a variety of manners.

Maybe you desire to have some type of honor and respect from others due to your great accomplishments? You are, possibly, the type that loves the trophies, the awards, the praises from others, the standing ovations, and the pats on the back. Where could this scheme run afoul? I have seen it, recently, with my own eyes, that public applause can last a very short time. I went to the Southern Baptist Convention and watched those presiding over the order of business give a retiring SBC Seminary president a big plaque. Now remember, this president served the seminary for 36 total years, and 23 of those years as president. As they presented the plaque, some of the crowd stood on their feet and he received about a 10 second applause, and then everyone sat back down. 10 seconds! I know, of course, that his impact will live on in the lives of thousands of seminary students and professors, and I know that he has been recognized in many capacities over the years, and especially in this last year as this seminary’s president. It did, however, shake me to the core to see that one final recognition at the SBC after 36 years of service at the seminary was represented in a plaque and 10 seconds of applause. Remember, if you are a looking for applause, people can only clap for so long.

Remember, if you are a looking for applause, people can only clap for so long. Click To Tweet

What about our accomplishments? What about our fame? Especially given our modern-day stance of “15 minutes of fame,” we must realize that it will only last about 15 minutes, if that. Life moves on. People move on looking for the “next thing.” Most of our accomplishments are forgotten about within a year, or less, of our doing them. Do not put too many eggs in the “accomplishments” basket; they will break.

Do you take great pride in your good health? Are your proud about how physically capable your are? Do you take great joy at your ability to run fast, leap high, and move quickly from side-to-side? Are you well-pleased at your ability to shoot a basketball, hit a baseball, throw a football, or swing a racket? Good! You Should take some joy and satisfaction in your physical ability! God has given it to you and you should enjoy the great gift of sports, or physical capacity to go and do as you please. However, keep in mind, dear one, that one injury can steal away your great athletic ability. Age will also diminish this ability as well. Good physical health is a blessing, and we must do what we can to keep it up, but we must hold it loosely.

There are some whom God has gifted intellectually in a phenomenal way. God has given some people such sharp minds to ponder great thoughts and cut through complex issues in a matter of moments. They are able to solve Level 10 (“Diabolical!”) Sudoku possibles in minutes! They are able to write out and find answers to some of the most difficult math problems in the world! They are, literally, geniuses! However, all it takes is one stroke, and that capacity is gone or greatly diminished. Alzheimer’s and Dementia steal this away from both the old and the young. Enjoy your sharp mind while it lasts, for it will grow dull (or, at least, duller!) at some point; there is no avoiding this fact. This is a fragile basket, indeed, and we would be wise to avoid putting too many “eggs of joy” into this basket as well.

There are others who are proud of their upright, moral character. Maybe their reputation is such that he or she has a “good name” among many. This is greatly admirable and should be sought by all. Where is the weak link in this basket? First, none of us are as good as we think we are. Each one of us will proclaim our own goodness, but if we are honest with ourselves, we are not really “that” good. We may be good from a societal standpoint (no criminal record, family is together, works hard, etc.), but from God’s perspective, we are not really “good” in the way that He defines good (See Romans 3:9-20, Jeremiah 17:9, John 3 for some examples). We are only good in Jesus. Jesus died because the world contains only “bad” people, only sinners. If we were all really “that” good, then we could save ourselves, but we cannot. Christ’s death is proof that there are no good people.

Christ's death is proof that there are no good people. Click To Tweet

A second weakness in finding great joy and satisfaction in one’s moral character is that it is so fragile , and only hangs on by a thread. One decision can undo, at least from the public’s perspective, a lifetime of service. All one has to do is look at those both within the church and outside the church who have served and produced for decades, yet we discover, as they near the “finish line” of their work, that there is scandal and moral slipperiness that has clouded their legacy. One decision can undo it all, or a series of decisions that have been hidden for decades can undo it all as well. Bottom Line: We are not good people and we have no sturdy leg to stand on when it comes to our moral character. We must seek solid ground, and this is not it.

Our great lack of finding satisfaction in all earthly things ought to be evidence to us that we were not meant to be satisfied by earthly things Click To Tweet

Where are we to find our joy and satisfaction? Which “basket” will protect our “eggs of joy” best? Only God is big enough, sturdy enough, and faithful enough, to satisfy us and give us the joy our hearts long for. Our great lack of finding satisfaction in all earthly things ought to be evidence to us that we were not meant to be satisfied by earthly things (thank you for this insight, C.S. Lewis!). No one or no thing is big enough, nor is the right “shape,” to fit perfectly into our hearts as God does. Does your money disappoint you? If you are in Christ, then you have treasures in heaven stored up for you that will always be preserved. Are you growing older and losing your physical capacities? One day, if you are in Christ, then you will have a new body that will never grow old. Does your family, in some way, reject you or disappoint you? God has promised to never leave you or forsake you. If family rejects you, then know that He has already accepted you, because of His Son. Whatever negative words have been spoken to you, God has spoken, in Christ, positive words over you like “My Child” and “Forgiven” and “Righteous in My sight.” You have an eternal family, in the Body of Christ, full of brothers and sisters in Christ that will always be family should your earthly family spurn you. If others do not desire you, then God, due to His adoption of you in Christ, desires you. If others won’t listen to you, then know that God’s ear never tires of hearing your heart-felt prayers. If respect and honor are currently fleeting, know that you have been honored, in Christ, and that His accomplishments will stand in the place of yours. God accepts and honors what Christ has done on your behalf, and that should be enough. God will restore a mind that has been lost, and in Christ we are morally perfect due to His work on the cross and His resurrection. May we place our joy into the “basket” of who God is and who we are, unalterably, in Him, and not be fooled by other, less sturdy “baskets” that pine for our sole attention and devotion.

God accepts and honors what Christ has done on your behalf, and that should be enough Click To Tweet