“Whoever loves money never has money enough; whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with his income” (Ecclesiastes 5:10).

Solomon came to the conclusion that we are to “fear God, and keep His commandments. For this is the whole duty of man” (Ecclesiastes 12:13).

Solomon was not only a great king, he also had great wealth. Wealth also converts into stuff…  Interesting to note that Solomon…who by my his own reckoning had everything he needed and yet he found it was all worthless. There are those of us who do not feel we have everything we need or want, which leads us to fall into the trap of everything we have is everything to us and in some cases we are still driven to obtain more. One view of materialism would be to put more value in stuff with less emphasis on on things of spiritual value and behavior. You could go as far as saying having preoccupation with acquiring material things or wealth. It is a tough road we as Christians are expected to walk but the truth is, obsession or fascination with anything other than God is sinful and is displeasing to God. We are to “love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might” (Deuteronomy 6:5). There will always be stuff that will make life easier, some of which does do just that…so what is the determining factor? I believe it is determined by the two words highlighted above. In Mathew 22:37-38 Jesus underscores that point. 

Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. 38 This is the first and great commandment. NKJV

God should become a habit in our lives… a settled or regular tendency or practice, He who alone is worthy of our complete attention, love and service. We must learn this lesson, wealth is a deceiver. It can lead us to places or things we don’t need, causing us to chase those things that we believe will make us happy and fulfilled.

(Mark 4:19)19 but the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things come in and choke the word, making it unfruitful.

We have read in scripture from Luke 16:13 that we can not serve both God and Money.  Contentment, a state of happiness and satisfaction will not be present in our rush to acquire stuff. Materialism causes us to strive for more and more and more, as if this will satisfy all our needs and dreams. Wealth and an abundance of  the stuff we possess is not the answer to all our needs and dreams. Simply said “seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness” (Matthew 6:33).

Life is Good

jk