The Fullness Problem
Do you ever overdo it? One bowl of ice cream would have been plenty, but you had two. You went to Taco Bell for a Crunchwrap and some nacho fries, and somehow a chalupa and a Mexican pizza ended up in the bag too. You wanted one episode and watched six. You picked up your phone for a quick break and two hours later feel more anxious than when you started.
We all do this. And I don’t think it’s a self-control problem. I think it’s a fullness problem.
We All Have an Appetite
We want to feel full and satisfied, but we’re a little confused about what actually gets us there. So we chase something, get a taste of it, realize it wasn’t enough, and reach for more. The more we have, the less satisfaction each bit gives us. There’s a name for that: the law of diminishing returns. I don’t think it’s an accident. I think God built us this way on purpose.
C.S. Lewis makes this case in Mere Christianity: we don’t develop desires for things that don’t exist. Hunger points to food. Thirst points to water. He pictures a duck walking a beach or circling a pond, telling itself, just a few more laps and I’ll finally feel complete, never actually getting in the water. The duck can see it, feels the pull toward it, but never steps in.
That’s us and God. He’s the source. Most of us just circle the water.
What Paul Was Trying to Fix
We’re in Colossians, a letter Paul wrote to a young church chasing satisfaction through good deeds, rule-keeping, and spiritual experiences. Here’s Colossians 1:15-20:
Christ is the visible image of the invisible God. He existed before anything was created and is supreme over all creation, for through him God created everything in the heavenly realms and on earth… Everything was created through him and for him. He existed before anything else, and he holds all creation together. Christ is also the head of the church, which is his body… For God in all his fullness was pleased to live in Christ, and through him God reconciled everything to himself. He made peace with everything in heaven and on earth by means of Christ’s blood on the cross.
Paul is saying Jesus is God: supreme over creation, holding it all together, head of the church. And in verse 19, the full nature of God lives in Christ. All of the fullness of God lives in Jesus, and through his sacrificial love, everything is brought to peace.
So if we want fullness, there’s only one place to go. Not food, relationships, money, or the perfect family, you already know none of that is working. Only Jesus.
Good Deeds Are the Overflow, Not the Source
Here’s where a lot of us go wrong. We assume we have to do things to access that fullness: behave better, go to church more, read the Bible more, volunteer, sign up for a group. If I get more religious, I’ll finally feel it.
That’s the exact confusion Paul is correcting, mixing up morality with spirituality. All those things are good, please do them, but they don’t initiate fullness. They’re the overflow of it. You can’t carry a full cup without it spilling. Good deeds are what spills out of a full life, not what fills it.
Where Fullness Actually Comes From
Paul continues in verses 21-23: once far from God, we’re now reconciled through Christ’s death and brought into God’s presence, holy and blameless, without a single fault. That’s what real fullness is: fully seen, fully known, forgiven, restored, loved. The water we’ve been circling for years.
But Paul adds a warning: you must continue to believe this truth and stand firmly in it. Don’t drift away. Fullness isn’t a truth we file away once. Jesus says abide in him, remain in him. It’s not a one-time prayer, it’s an ongoing surrender.
So ask yourself honestly: have you ever really given yourself over? Not agreed with something a pastor said, but surrendered your will? Have you said, God, take all I have? And if you have, that’s good, but it’s not a box you check once.
The Cup Has to Stay Under the Source
A cup doesn’t fill itself once and stay full forever. It has to stay under the source. Jesus holds all things together, and we have to keep going back to him so the cup never runs dry.
If you’ve been circling the water, close enough to feel the pull but never stepping in, today’s a good day to stop circling.
Three honest steps:
Name the thing you keep overdoing, and ask what it’s actually trying to satisfy in you.
Tell Jesus the truth, that you’ve been circling instead of stepping in, and that you want to belong to him.
Make staying under the source a daily rhythm, not a one-time decision.
You have a fullness problem. So does everyone around you. There’s a source deep enough for all of it.
