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Jason Cruise is senior pastor at Belmont Heights Baptist Church in Nashville, Tennessee. But growing up, his dad was the owner of an outdoors store. So he came naturally by his outdoorsman passions: fly fishing and deer and turkey hunting. As an outdoor writer and speaker, Jason weaves spiritual life truths into his stories of hunting experiences and strategies. He was executive editor of The Sportsman's Bible, and founded the Tennessee Outdoor Network.

Imagine saying to yourself, "let's give pleasure a try." That's what the richest guy who ever walked the earth wrote (Ecclesiastes 2:1). You might think, I'll go buy new vehicles to help accommodate my mood for any given day. A Ferrari for days when I need speed, a Chevy 3500 HD for days when I need towing power, a Caterpillar for days when I just feel the need to move stuff around, a convertible Bentley for days when I need to impress someone, and a Hummer for days when I just need a testosterone boost.

And that was just for starters for a guy like Solomon. Yet this guy came to the end of his experiment and basically said, "You know, it was fun, but I still don't feel complete inside."

Isn't that the way it always is? Once you sift through all your stuff, you find that your relationship with God is all that can really satisfy the soul. Fads and new glittering gadgets are never a sure bet.

Adapted from Into the High Country (B&H Publishing, 2006) by permission.

Copyright © 2006 by the author or Christianity Today International/Men of Integrity magazine. Click here for reprint information on Men of Integrity.

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Prayer for the Week

Lord, keep me from accumulating things just to fill a void in my life that only You can fill.

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