Well, I’ll be perfectly honest – I’m going to be stepping on my own toes for this week’s “Seek the things above” post. It’s about want vs. need.
I wish I had more of the attitude expressed here in Proverbs 30: give me only what I NEED. I’m more fond of wants and comforts than I wish I was. And, sure, many people in our society wouldn’t look at my life and call it the most luxurious. We don’t make tons of money by US standards. But is that really the standard? Compared to many countries today and throughout history, my life of temperature controlled rooms, running hot and cold water, mechanical servants to wash my dishes and clothes, soft mattresses, a wealth of information at my fingertips, and food prepared by others accessible in minutes, is downright posh. And yet I get impatient when the internet takes a while to load.
Now, there’s nothing wrong with money in and of itself. It’s just a tool. 1 Timothy 6:10 is often misquoted as saying “money is the root of all evil” – but that isn’t what it says. The verse actually reads, “For the LOVE of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs.” It’s the love of money that is the problem, not the money itself. But that love of money is so prevalent in our society. We’re constantly being told we “deserve” things we have no real need of or right to own. People are judged for having clothes that aren’t to-the-minute fashionable, or cars that aren’t a “statement”. Or what about a cell phone that is 10 years old? That will get some full blown laughs.
How much do these things really matter in the long run? At the end of our lives when we are on our deathbed are we really going to look back and say to ourselves, “Boy, I sure am glad I bought that new iPad in 2012”? Yet how much focus do people put on those things now? And when I say “people”, I’m very much including myself. I don’t have an iPad. I don’t have an iPhone. Have I ever been guilty of feeling a little sorry for myself when my friends are all talking about their new apps and I see their Instagram pictures? Yeah, sometimes. Shame on me. I have all I need — and WAY more.
We start to get dependent on our economic standing. Too often, more faith is put in banks accounts and portfolios than in God. We start turning into the rich man mentioned above in Proverbs 30. We become the rich man in Mark 10:25, “It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.” We become enslaved to our wants and belongings which have become our idols: “covetousness, which is idolatry” (Colossians 3:5) And we have forgotten what we NEED.
Again it’s not that having money is wrong. It’s an issue of where the HEART is, as it says in Matthew 6:19-21: “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. … No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.”
Where are my “treasures”?
Where is my heart?
Who am I serving?
A life focused on God is so much more fulfilling than a life of accumulating stuff.
Leave your thoughts and comments below! Or, if you ever feel like discussing something further, feel free to drop me a note.
