Luke 12:15 -- Guard against Greed

Then Jesus said to them, “Be careful and guard against all kinds of greed. A man’s life is not measured by the many things he owns.”

Luke 12:15 (ICB)

Guard against all kind's of greed.  

This is actually a recurring theme in a lot of places in the Bible. As Christians we're supposed to effectively not be greedy.  But what does that really mean?  

The dictionary defines greed as the "intense and selfish desire for something, especially wealth, power, or food." 

And there in is the hook for why greed is so harmful to us.  It's an intense and selfish desire for things.  A desire that's overwhelming to the point that it excludes the other aspects of life, but especially that of our relationship with God. 

For when you have this overwhelming desire as described, it's never fulfilled. It can never be fulfilled, because of how our mind works. As we gather the things we covet, whether that's wealth, food or even Pokemon cards, we always see that there's another, something else, that we just have to have, to possess. Isaiah 56:11 describes humanity as "greedy dogs which can never have enough,"  and it's true. We want things, we desire things, and if those desires, those base impulses are left unchecked, we will do so to the determent of everything in our life. 

Again, and again, the Bible shows us pictures of those who have allowed greed to lead them to ruin, probably the most prominent being Gehazi, a servant of Elisha, in 2 Kings 5:20-27. 

But this verse goes even further. It reads "all kinds of greed," or actually "of every kind of covetousness" in the original versions.  This is not just a desire for anything, but this is the desire to own things to the point of evil.  Later, the Bible clearly states that the love of money is the root of all evil (1 Timothy 6:10).  And it's clear, it's not the money that is the root of all evil, but that overwhelming desire for it.  That covetousness or greed. 

What's worse is that not only is that overwhelming desire bad for us in that it takes us away from God, takes our focus away from Him, but it also leads us further into evil. For as we gather more of what we covet, as less of it becomes available for us to claim, we start considering and justifying the measures we should go to receive the remaining portions of whatever it is.   It's not just the root of all evil, but it's the pathway to further evil that so many of us happily follow. 

Yet, that was not the end of Jesus' statement. When he clearly identified that we need to guard against greed, he also clearly stated that "a man's life is not measured by the many things he owns."  

And this is something else that we have to remember, especially for us here in America. We have almost made it "keeping up with the Joneses" our national past time.  We compare what we have, what we've done and what we do to each other so much, and then struggle to go out of our way to attempt to one up everyone.  

The extravagant and wild ways that soon-to-be parents are doing "gender reveals" in regards to their unborn children is an example of this.  Twelve years ago, right before the birth of my second son, I had never even heard of a "reveal party."  Then they started. First it was cakes. Then balloons. Then exploding confetti.  I've even seen explosions and dust croppers.  

It's an on-going effort to compare ourselves, our lives, against our neighbors.  Both coveting what they have as well as attempting to get ahead of them on the curve, so that we could become the benchmark. 

And in the end it's greed. And covetousness. And that greed, that desire to one-up and to own more, it destroys us. It destroys the enjoyment that we can get out of things, and even destroys our self-image. 

Ultimately, it's a selfish desire to have what they have, not just the social or material standings, but also to possess that concept of being the benchmark by which the neighbors judge. 

And in the end, that's not how our life is judged.  It's not how those left behind after our death judge us, and it's not how Christ judges us after our deaths.

Journal Prompt:  Is there anything in your life that you're greedy for? Why? Do you compare your life to one of your neighbors or friends? Why?

Mark 4:19 -- Distractions

But they start worrying about the needs of this life. They are fooled by the desire to get rich and to have all kinds of other things. So the message gets choked out, and they never produce anything.

Mark 4:19 (CEV)

Distractions are everywhere. 

We're constantly bombarded by this world in an effort to distract us, to shift our attention this way and that. Always after the next thing, or the next event. Televisions, movies, social media, these are all constant sources of distractions in our lives.  Lust and love rip our attention from everything, with the ending of these relationships the worst offenders of all. Even serving others can be a distraction, an effort to take our focus off of things, to keep our hands busy so we don't need time to reflect on our own lives. 

And we all love it. We eat it up, and let these distractions consume us. 

Neal Postman wrote a book entitled Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business.  In it, he discussed Orwell's 1984 and Huxley's Brave New World, and explicitly wrote this about Huxley's vision of the future, "Huxley feared we would become a trivial culture, preoccupied with some equivalent of the feelies, the orgy porgy, and the centrifugal bumblepuppy."

As Postman wrote, and Huxley feared, the problem with these distractions, is not the distraction itself. Rather it's the fact that these distractions are empty.  They lack substance and vitality.  It's not the fact that there's a movie or television show to watch or a book to read, it's the fact that the movie or book lacks inspiration. It doesn't provide any sustenance, or a fuel to our relationship with God. So often, these movies don't even provide true entertainment. 

Rather, it's just a short jolt of adrenaline, or a nice feeling. It doesn't cause reflection or provoke thoughts. The purpose is to be popular. 

This type of entertainment doesn't make us better, it simplifies us; mentally, emotionally and spiritually. 

This even applies to so-called Christian entertainment. 

Even to some of the praise and worship songs we sing.

I've stood in a church, were everyone was singing a wonderful, upbeat, thriving song about loving Christ, which had words within it which I knew contradicted the Bible. I did not, sing. Worse, when I asked about it, when I pointed out the issues about the lyrics, I was presented with a counter-argument that I was thinking about it to hard, and that it was a Christian song, so the words did not really matter. 

What can the response to that be?  How could the words not matter, when the words were the only thing that truly made it a Christian song?  

But that worship leader, and all of the congregation had been distracted. They had been distracted so much by the enjoyment of singing that song, that they had not paid attention to what they were actually singing. 

We, as Christians, are not supposed to be like that.  We're supposed to know the Bible. We're supposed to live life. 

And we're supposed to think.

We, as Christians, should produce and consume art that makes us think. Our entertainment, should be things that point out the flaws in all of us, the depths that we as humans can fall, as well as the heights to which we can soar. We need to see all of this, all of the human condition in order to effectively communicate about salvation. 

Journal Prompt: What distractions do I have that cause me to neglect my spiritual journey? 

Jeremiah 29:13 -- Focus on God

You will search for me. And when you search for me with all your heart, you will find me!

Jeremiah 29:13 (NCV)

There is an often used statement, which the above verse always brings to mind: "What consumes your mind controls your life."

It's a simple fact of life, the focus of our thoughts, controls our reality. 

It's even a common refrain from self-help books, and websites. A litany of commands, and iteration on the concept of focus. They lead with the simple statement of "If you want something, the desire for it should consume you."

And from a certain point of view, they are correct. You find what you search for diligently. When you throw your all into the search, every facet of your being, and thoughts and soul into the hunt, you can succeed.  When you go to bed every night, with thoughts of a goal in mind, and wake every morning with that same goal on your lips, you will find a way to make it to it.  For good or ill.

That fact, that ability of focus is what this verse is talking about. It's God, telling us that He knows that we can hunt something with that single-mindedness. That we can focus upon Him, search for Him.

And when someone seeks the Lord in that way, they always find Him.

They find the prayer hearing God. The favor-bestowing God. The God who indulges those who have a strong relationship with Him.

Our God is a merciful God, granting us Grace and mercy, both in this world and the next.

But how should we seek Him? What is the correct way?

In John 14:23 Jesus says, "If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our abode with him"  (NASB). This is a clear condition on the part of man, in how we are to approach God. We are to do so in obedience to His word. 

Now, note that we live under grace. That is a gift from God that He bestows willingly to us.  But God craves a relationship with us. He wants us to love him, as He loves us. Where a believer has true love for Christ in their heart, they will find obedience to the laws of Christ easy. Love is this overarching concept that is to dominate our lives, and where love is, His commands follows on.

So follow His commands, love one another, and keep your focus on God.  Let that focus consume you.



Journal Prompt: What has your focus been on today? What did you go to sleep thinking about last night, and woke up considering this morning?