A black hole is a swirling mass deep in outer space that like a ravenous beast swallows any bit of matter that comes close to it.

The human heart is like that. Professor Diogenes Allen of Princeton Seminary states, "There is an emptiness at our core that is like a black hole. . . . There is an emptiness in us which threatens to suck us down as well, although what it is actually doing is dispelling an illusion. It is not destroying us, but revealing to us that we are already a dead thing trying to give itself life by taking all within its reach. But the core of us remains an emptiness."

What can satisfy the black hole of the human heart? Wealth, pleasure, travel, fame, learning, art? These can no more fill that inner void than a fistful of pebbles can fill the Grand Canyon.

In an attempt to find peace for his soul, King Solomon experimented with every resource imaginable. He wrote, "I did not withhold my heart from any pleasure" (Eccl. 2:10). But what was the result of his search? He concluded, "All is vanity and grasping for the wind" (v.17). Solomon's ultimate realization was that fulfillment can be found only in knowing and living for God (12:13).

Where are you looking for peace and fulfillment?  — Vernon C. Grounds