I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. I am the Good Shepherd.
John 10:10-11
We live in a world where excess is a way of life. Huffington Post blog article The Crisis
of American Consumerism, (Amitai Etzioni, Nov. 2012) states that all
classes of society are afflicted by consumerism and even people who say they
are just making ends meet “spend good
parts of their income on status goods such as brand-name clothing, the “right”
kind of car, and other assorted items that they don’t really need.”
It is so easy to be lured into buying goods and services we
don’t really need. Skillful product marketing and the influence of peers influence
us to buy, buy, and buy without restraint.
My own overindulgence became painfully evident recently as
I was downsizing my living space. The accumulation over the years was
overwhelming and depressing; I had too much of everything that got too little
use and then set aside and ignored. For some time, I had cut down on impulse buying but enough evidence of waste remained to
convict me and I had to repent to God for my poor stewardship of resources He allowed me to have.
Too many Christians use our abundance of material goods to
measure the blessings of God on our lives and use Scripture, taken totally out
of context, to support this fallacy. A few favorites are:
- Philippians 4:19. “And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.” In the proper context, the Church at Philippi gave sacrificially of their meager resources to help OTHERS and the Apostle Paul is commending them and assuring them that God will not let them suffer for temporal needs and their future with Christ in eternity is certain. This blessing was prompted by selfless giving and NOT selfishness.
- We say that since our Father owns (everything), the cattle on a thousand hills (Psalm 50:10), we should get everything we want as children of God. It is true that God created everything in Heaven and on earth for the enjoyment of His children but it is not true that everything we choose to avail ourselves of comes from God. James 4:3 tells us that we get nothing from God when “we ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions.” God is not moved by our covetousness and selfishness.
- I have also heard 1 Corinthians 2:9 quoted to support the misconception that a child of God is entitled to every material whim and fancy as he/she would choose. This scripture is about nothing so mundane and carnal but refers to the secret and hidden things which in His wisdom God planned around Christ’s crucifixion and man’s redemption. From Matthew Henry’s Commentary on 1 Cor. 2:9 – “We must take them as they stand in the Scriptures, as God hath been pleased to reveal them to us.”
Why then do we so often choose the burden of carnality over the
peace and joy of the abundant life in Christ?
To be continued….
Prayer and
Thanksgiving: Holy Father, you are Jehovah-Jireh, the LORD who will provide
– the same Lord yesterday, today and forever. The LORD who keeps us in perfect
peace so we do not worry about what we should eat, or where we should live, or
what we should wear; the LORD who knows what we need before we ask. You are the Good Shepherd who cares for our
souls. Teach us to trust you to guide us by your Holy Spirit to make our
requests with thanksgiving and not with covetousness and selfish ambition.
Teach us to ask on behalf of others who have greater needs than our own and do not
know how to ask for themselves, and teach us to be generous with what you give
us. Forgive us for being self-absorbed and greedy and profaning your Word and
Your Name for our benefit. Thank you for being the God who does not judge us as
we deserve but is faithful and abounding in mercy. Teach us to love you and
honor you. To you, Father, be dominion and power for ever and ever. We pray and
ask all in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Always by God’s Word and prayer,
Cecile
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