“What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul?” – Mark 8:36
Running as fast as possible. The days just seem to blur together into one continuous journey of deadlines, missed opportunities and disappointments. When I was a younger man, I had set goals for my life. Every single goal I set at the age of 24 has been met and far exceeded. Financial goals, family goals, life goals and of course the dream of a little house and white picket fence. The problem wasn’t achieving my goals in life, the problem was not thinking big enough. You see, every goal I set at the age of 24 was accomplished before I was 28. I had a great job, beautiful wife, 2 kids, 2 cars and a house with a fence. The problem was my appetite wasn’t satisfied. I had met my goals, but it wasn’t enough.
You see, the human side of life wants to continually strive for more. When is enough – enough? Bill Gates, one of the world’s wealthiest men today was once quoted, “If I never make another dime, I could spend 3 million dollars a day for the rest of my life. I tell you what, I’ll give you 1 million dollars right now for your right arm. I’ll give you $1 million and I get to sever your right arm off. Do we have a deal.” Every time we think to ourselves, “If only I could … , then everything would be better” we deceive ourselves into believing that we can control our happiness and our contentment in this life. Perhaps you’ve found yourselves in the situation where you know if you could just win the lottery, all of my troubles would go away. This implies than that we have more faith in the dollar than we do in God.
There is nothing on earth that will take away your problems. Sure, a few extra bucks here or there could help get you through a tough time with bills, but the next morning you’re going to wake up and there will be more problems heading your way. Come to peace with the understanding that what we have on this earth is temporary and is only meant to sustain us while we do God’s work. Once this is understood, then the doors are opened to look at our problems with an eternal perspective. Break the mold of having a worldly perspective, focused on obtaining more and more, yet never satisfying that hunger and desire. Trade it in for a perspective focused on meeting Gods expectations and serving Him. With this as the goal in life, you will find that your needs are met along the way. I’m not promising that your wants will be met, but God’s grace and love are sufficient to meet all of your needs.
You see, the human side of life wants to continually strive for more. When is enough – enough? Bill Gates, one of the world’s wealthiest men today was once quoted, “If I never make another dime, I could spend 3 million dollars a day for the rest of my life. I tell you what, I’ll give you 1 million dollars right now for your right arm. I’ll give you $1 million and I get to sever your right arm off. Do we have a deal.” Every time we think to ourselves, “If only I could … , then everything would be better” we deceive ourselves into believing that we can control our happiness and our contentment in this life. Perhaps you’ve found yourselves in the situation where you know if you could just win the lottery, all of my troubles would go away. This implies than that we have more faith in the dollar than we do in God.
There is nothing on earth that will take away your problems. Sure, a few extra bucks here or there could help get you through a tough time with bills, but the next morning you’re going to wake up and there will be more problems heading your way. Come to peace with the understanding that what we have on this earth is temporary and is only meant to sustain us while we do God’s work. Once this is understood, then the doors are opened to look at our problems with an eternal perspective. Break the mold of having a worldly perspective, focused on obtaining more and more, yet never satisfying that hunger and desire. Trade it in for a perspective focused on meeting Gods expectations and serving Him. With this as the goal in life, you will find that your needs are met along the way. I’m not promising that your wants will be met, but God’s grace and love are sufficient to meet all of your needs.
Prayer:
Loving Father,
You have provided for us in plenty. You have provided everything we need for our purpose in life – to serve You. Help us to put aside our desires, our wants and our greed, in lieu of pursuing a stronger relationship with You and serving You more completely. In Your name we pray – Amen
http://www.10minutereader.com
©Sondove Enterprises, 2011
Loving Father,
You have provided for us in plenty. You have provided everything we need for our purpose in life – to serve You. Help us to put aside our desires, our wants and our greed, in lieu of pursuing a stronger relationship with You and serving You more completely. In Your name we pray – Amen
http://www.10minutereader.com
©Sondove Enterprises, 2011
No comments:
Post a Comment