Here are some excerpts from a little book written by Billy Graham. It was written in 1953 and then re-published. The one I have is from 1977.
I picked up a little book that I have had since 1977. This book is by Billy Graham and is called Peace With God. I like that title because it describes the desire of my heart. There is something so wonderful about peace. Peace is contentment, fullness, joy, and many other good emotions.
Let me share a couple of comments by BillyGraham
So where are we? you ask. Where are we now and where are we going? Let me tell you where we are and what we are. We are a nation of empty people. Our heads are crammed full of knowledge, but within our souls is a spiritual vacuum. (Remember please that this was written in 1963)
We complain that the youth of this country has lost its drive, its push, its willingness to work and to get ahead. Parents don’t seem to realize that their well-educated, carefully brought up children are actually empty inside.
America is said to have the highest per capita boredom of any spot on earth! We know that because we have the greatest variety and greatest number of artificial amusements of any country. People have become so empty that they can’t even entertain themselves.
You may think that boredom is a minor matter. Everyone gets bored sometimes, it’s only natural. But let me tell you something about boredom, and this dangerous apathy that is creeping over the land and over the minds and hearts of the people. Man is the only one of God’s creatures who is capable of being bored with itself or it’s surroundings. This is very significant, for the Creator never does anything without a purpose, and if He gave man the capacity for boredom, He did it for a purpose.
Boredom is one of the sure ways to measure your own inner emptiness! It’s as accurate as a thermometer for telling just hollow your inner spirit really is. The person who is thoroughly bored is living and working in a vacuum. It is one of the unfailing rules of this universe that all vacuums must be filled, and filled immediately.
We do not have to go back to ancient times to see what happens to a nation of empty people. We need look no further than the recent history of Germany, Italy, and Russia to see with what deadly speed nature fills up the vacuums that occur within us. Fascism and Communism can find no place in the heart and soul of a person who is filled with the Sprit of God, but it floods with the greatest ease into the minds and hearts of those who are empty and waiting. Nature abhors a vacuum, but it is up to us as individuals to determine with what our inner vacuums will be filled.
So, that is where we stand today–a nation of empty people.
There is much more….
I now have a greater understanding of why our politicians are in the trouble they are today!
One last paragraph from this book.
So that is where we stand today–a nation of empty people. We have tried to fill ourselves with science and other things we thought we wanted,, but we are still empty. Why are we empty? Because the Creator made us for Himself; and we shall never find completeness and fullness apart from fellowship with Him.
My own thoughts again.
As I look at the political situation in the world and the wars and rumors of wars and remember the scripture that talks about Come unto me all ye that labor and are heavy laden….Matt. 11:28
labor: to grow weary, tired, exhausted (with toil or burdens or grief)
1. to labour with wearisome effort, to toil
It is so easy to understand why some people choose the easy way out and want the government to be their sugar daddy… they are empty inside…they are weary…they have a huge load they must carry but don’t want to carry and they are bored. There is a spiritual vacuum within the hearts and lives of a very large portion of our populous.
Ask yourself, what can I do