Hebrews 13: 5-6 Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as you have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me.
Yes Friends, Bruh Paul hit the nail on the head; we shouldn’t be covetous, but satisfied with what we have. His words apply to us much more than the Hebrews, since greed, envy, discontent and the constant wanting of more is the prevailing mood in our society. It’s just gimme, gimme! Cleverly set up and nourished by our politicians and business people, all in the name of increased profits. We are encouraged, nay, bullied and brainwashed into spending; spending what we don’t even have. Just read the business (rip off) news. The Consumer Index; how much we’ve spent over a certain period has an inflated importance. When it’s up, the business community’s laughing. But when it’s down, it’s pure doom and gloom. Technology’s played its part too with a new gadget or toy released every day amidst wild, often false claims that it’s paradoxically not bigger and better, but smaller and better, can do more things. Imagine cell phones that also act as cameras, internet devices, video displays, music downloaders and players, that fit in the palm of one’s hand. What has all this led to, especially among the young people? A rush to own these toys, that in turn has led to increased peer pressure, bullying and violence. The same with the insipid style clothes, shoes and jewellery. Sadly though, it’s not only the young who have been caught up in the rat race, but also a lot of older folks who have added the big ticket items like cars, houses,vacations, yachts etc to their wish list.. And what has all this been bought with? Credit! The house of cards that greed and envy built. We want it, but we can’t afford it, so we buy it on credit, and the greedy business people give it to us although they know they shouldn’t. Then when the melt down comes, as it must, with the mortgage crisis and the looming credit card problems, everybody hold deh head and bawl Poor me! The wealthy seem okay, for despite numerous jobs being lost in the west to the cheaper Asian world, the yacth industry is flourishing like never before, with personalised yachts, so big and lavish you can’t call them yachts anymore. Oh people, we’ve got to stop this mad rush to acquire things we can’t afford and often don’t need. Lot’s of us dress up in the latest fashion, with the latest cell phone and i-pod, but don’t have a penny in our pockets, or food in our homes and can’t pay the rent on the substandard housing we dwell in. That makes no sense. We should all aspire to improve our lives, but we need to do it sensibly. Starting by not comparing ourselves to others, this just brings up the envy that leads to the coveting, especially using their material possessions as a yardstick. They might have sold their soul to acquire what they have, and we definitely don’t want to do that. Then we’ve got to make a conscious decision and a conscious effort to bide our time while walking in the Lord’s will, confident that He’ll satisfy all our needs, since He promised to never leave or forsake us, which allows us to ‘boldly say. The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me,’ Friends, please, let’s be very careful. This world has lots of glitzy temptations and our eyes are usually bigger than our pockets are deep. So let’s trust in the Lord; let’s choose wisely, choose those things that will keep us in good standing with Him. Much LOVE!…the world’s gone gung ho crazy…but our God says…steady now… hold a straight course…
Yes Friends, Bruh Paul hit the nail on the head; we shouldn’t be covetous, but satisfied with what we have. His words apply to us much more than the Hebrews, since greed, envy, discontent and the constant wanting of more is the prevailing mood in our society. It’s just gimme, gimme! Cleverly set up and nourished by our politicians and business people, all in the name of increased profits. We are encouraged, nay, bullied and brainwashed into spending; spending what we don’t even have. Just read the business (rip off) news. The Consumer Index; how much we’ve spent over a certain period has an inflated importance. When it’s up, the business community’s laughing. But when it’s down, it’s pure doom and gloom. Technology’s played its part too with a new gadget or toy released every day amidst wild, often false claims that it’s paradoxically not bigger and better, but smaller and better, can do more things. Imagine cell phones that also act as cameras, internet devices, video displays, music downloaders and players, that fit in the palm of one’s hand. What has all this led to, especially among the young people? A rush to own these toys, that in turn has led to increased peer pressure, bullying and violence. The same with the insipid style clothes, shoes and jewellery. Sadly though, it’s not only the young who have been caught up in the rat race, but also a lot of older folks who have added the big ticket items like cars, houses,vacations, yachts etc to their wish list.. And what has all this been bought with? Credit! The house of cards that greed and envy built. We want it, but we can’t afford it, so we buy it on credit, and the greedy business people give it to us although they know they shouldn’t. Then when the melt down comes, as it must, with the mortgage crisis and the looming credit card problems, everybody hold deh head and bawl Poor me! The wealthy seem okay, for despite numerous jobs being lost in the west to the cheaper Asian world, the yacth industry is flourishing like never before, with personalised yachts, so big and lavish you can’t call them yachts anymore. Oh people, we’ve got to stop this mad rush to acquire things we can’t afford and often don’t need. Lot’s of us dress up in the latest fashion, with the latest cell phone and i-pod, but don’t have a penny in our pockets, or food in our homes and can’t pay the rent on the substandard housing we dwell in. That makes no sense. We should all aspire to improve our lives, but we need to do it sensibly. Starting by not comparing ourselves to others, this just brings up the envy that leads to the coveting, especially using their material possessions as a yardstick. They might have sold their soul to acquire what they have, and we definitely don’t want to do that. Then we’ve got to make a conscious decision and a conscious effort to bide our time while walking in the Lord’s will, confident that He’ll satisfy all our needs, since He promised to never leave or forsake us, which allows us to ‘boldly say. The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me,’ Friends, please, let’s be very careful. This world has lots of glitzy temptations and our eyes are usually bigger than our pockets are deep. So let’s trust in the Lord; let’s choose wisely, choose those things that will keep us in good standing with Him. Much LOVE!…the world’s gone gung ho crazy…but our God says…steady now… hold a straight course…
SCRIP-BITS 