#write31days: Our Greedy Hearts
Have you ever bought something new and then seen what your neighbor has and been instantly dissatisfied and ready for an upgrade? Maybe you wish for more and better and can’t deal with the thought of not being current or on trend. Maybe the opinions of others are the driving forces behind the purchases you make. Maybe you’ve even been unwise with the money God has given you to steward because you’re afraid of being “behind.”
Friends, this is called greed. You could also call it materialism. It’s easy for us to adopt an American mindset of “more is better.” I mean, I’ve been saying for years that I want to have a capsule wardrobe, but the fear of “not having enough” has held me back. Who decides how much is enough? Who decides how much is too much? How do we live without allowing our possessions to own us?
Jesus said in Matthew 6:25-34:
“Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, about what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what will you put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your Heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your Heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seem first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.”
When we find ourselves consumed with the desire for more material things, we are completely missing the point of our lives here on earth. We weren’t put on this earth to accumulate as much as we could and then get to the other side. We were made to lay down our lives for others. We were made to enjoy life and enjoy God. You know the saying- “No one’s ever seen a UHaul behind a hearse.” So let’s focus on the mission before us and hold our stuff with open hands, knowing that it’s not eternal, but the kingdom of God is.