Someone in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the family inheritance with me.” But he said to him, “Friend, who set me to be a judge or arbitrator over you?” And he said to them, “Take care! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of possessions.” I had a hunch that there would be fog at the overlook that evening since it had stormed a lot during the day; and I was right. We got to the overlook soon enough to watch the fog slip in. It was gradual at first only over the river but then overtaking almost the whole ridge. Greed is like the fog. It just quietly slips in and gradually overtakes you. You see some material thing that looks pleasant, some new item of clothing or camera accessory. The material thing isn’t a bad thing, but you just think about it a little more each day. It doesn’t take long for the desire to become a demand and there it is - greed. No one says, "I think I will be a greedy person." We don’t want to admit that we are greedy, after all, it is just this one little thing. We say to ourselves, “I have worked hard and I deserve this.” Like the rich fool in the parable that Jesus told in response to the man’s request for help with his inheritance, you begin to think about building bigger barns, acquiring more stuff. Instead of being grateful for what we have, our greed overtakes us and our things become our idols. We think more about the gift than the giver. We must learn to be on guard against greed to keep it from slipping into our lives, turning our desires away from God and toward things.
Prayer Lord God Teach us to be on our guard against greed; to notice the subtle signs of desire for things becoming an insatiable demand. Reveal our greed that leads to idolatry. Forgive us when we make our things our greatest desire instead of you. Amen
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Get In Touch
If you have something to share with everyone reading the blog, click on Comments to add your thoughts. Remember that your comments will be seen by anyone reading the post. If you want to just share your comments with me then click on the Contact link in the menu above. If you are looking for a particular scripture or post title then enter the word in the search box below. You can also find posts about specific topics in the Topics section.
Topics
All
Archives
March 2024
|
All the photographs in this site were taken by me. If you use or share anything from my website, please link back to this page. You are free to view and share this website by linking but I ask you not to download or redistribute anything from the site. Thanks.
Soli Deo Gloria,
1 Corinthians 10:31
© 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024 Karen Milligan
1 Corinthians 10:31
© 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024 Karen Milligan