the basic message #E3
Luke 12:15
“Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.”
Here in America, we work for something that we think is good. We call it, “The American Dream”. For those of you in other countries, you probably have something similar, but you call it by a different name. The early Americans, like all settlers, had hard lives. As the generations passed, things got a little better. Then, people set their sights on getting a little piece of land with a nice house, and a few conveniences. The American Dream was born. Somehow, the whole thing has gotten out of whack. Now we think we must have BIG houses, FANCY cars, EXTRAVAGANT vacations. You get the picture.
Exodus 20:17
“You shall not covet your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his manservant or maidservant, his ox or his donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.”
If we lived alone on a desert island, covetetousness wouldn’t be a problem. It's when we start comparing that we get ourselves into trouble. You know what I mean. You get your first car- it’s a nice car, but it’s not new. You’re happy until you drive up to school and the rich kid parks beside you in his new Corvette. All of a sudden your nice car looks shabby in comparison. “In comparison” will always make our lives miserable. In the old west, it was better to be a fair shot than an expert gunslinger. Why? Anyone considered to be the fastest draw was constantly having to prove himself- someone wanted to take away his title. There’s a saying that goes something like this, “Satisfaction is not being happy because we get what we want. Satisfaction is being happy with what we have.” Amen. No matter what we have, there will always be someone else that has something better.