From the writings of the Rev. Billy Graham

To the question, “What appears to be the thing that young people are looking for the most?” a Harvard University professor answered, “They want to belong.” How coincidental that Facebook, a 21st-century phenomenon, was conceived and given birth at Harvard. This social media networking website tapped into the deepest of human need—to belong. One post stated that people’s obsession with social media lies in the “innate human drive for social acceptance.” This outlet has become something like a personal billboard, where the most intimate thoughts are posted on a wall in cyberspace. One woman posted that she longed to belong. When she realized that the only life she belonged in was her own, she set about creating it for herself.

People of all ages want to belong to something, even if just belonging to their own way. This is why so many seek to join clubs, gangs, or even churches. Yet society reflects the craving for a designer world, one that suits every whim. We want things to go our way, according to our own timeline, and at the pace of our own choosing. We want designer clothes, designer technology, designer homes and cars, even designer religion.

King Solomon wrote about his search for personal satisfaction saying, “I denied myself nothing my eyes desired; I refused my heart no pleasure…. Yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done and what I had toiled to achieve, everything was meaningless” (Ecclesiastes 2:10-11, NIV). The human race has always been on a quest for acceptance, yet it is unwilling to accept the One who is truth—but the world doesn’t want to belong to Him. Don’t be satisfied with anything less than God’s forgiveness and acceptance.

(This column is based on the words and writings of the late Rev. Billy Graham.)

God knows your purpose. Seek Him today.