The last time you rolled up to a guy in a Ferrari what did you think? What about last Christmas when you cruised through an affluent neighborhood to look at Christmas lights and you gawked at the huge multi-million dollar homes? What crossed your mind? What about when you surf Facebook and see lifestyles that far outpace yours financially, what thoughts pop into your mind? If you’re like most it can quickly turn to jealousy, envy, covetous and even anger. Why do they have more than me? Why do they have nice expensive things and I don’t? And maybe even, why is their life so good and satisfying and mine lacks so much fulfillment? All valid questions and all questions thoroughly answered by God.
As we continue to nudge ever closer to seeing the Israelites enter the promised land, we see God continue in His careful instructions to them about their entrance. We saw yesterday a set of instructions on clearing out the current inhabitants of the land and today we see God get very specific in giving the physical borders of the land and naming the individuals who will divide the land among each tribe. Like a couple of kids splitting a candy bar, the parent must make sure there’s a plan in place to ensure what gets split and that it gets split fairly.
But as you read about the promised land borders you have to wonder, why did God put any limits upon the volume of the promised land? The Israelites were his chosen people and He greatly favored them, why not give them the entire continent? Why not the entire western hemisphere. Why not the entire world? God could have given them anything He wanted. You see, it all boils down to a very simple rationale…how much do you really need?
Today in our world we see a massive division in what we think we need versus what God thinks we need. It’s rather sickening to see a world today where people completely reverse Matthew 16:26:
“For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul?”
Today we see millions on our planet that are more than willing to do whatever it takes to gain their fair share of the world. People that are so hungry for “success” that forfeiting their soul to get it seems a viable price. A world that tells us we should take what is ours before someone else gets it. From CEO’s, to politicians, from movie stars to sports idols, to your average Joe citizen, people are jockeying to make and accumulate all they can for themselves…to live the American dream.
But as we attempt to ponder and interpret the American dream and the excess it seems to condone, it seems only appropriate to leave God out of the entire equation. I mean really, what does God have to do with how much money I can make, how much I buy and how big my house is? Doesn’t God want me to have it all? Doesn’t God know how much I want that new Corvette and how hard I’ve worked for it? All derivatives of a complicated process of us rationalizing with oursleves as we do what we want to get what we think we deserve.
This entire process is very personal and very real to me. As God called 5 years ago, most would say that Marge and I were living that American dream. Nice big home with a pool, spa, beautiful landscaping and even a little putting green and Tiki hut. We had nice cars in the garage, nice furniture inside and nice toys to play with. We traveled, we enjoyed. And on top of this we were 100% debt free, you could say that we were doing the American Dream the right way. But to afford all of this we worked. A lot. The majority of our days, weeks and years were spent on the road, selling, servicing and training. A never ending process of a dog chasing his tail. Where does it start and where does it stop? Wash, rinse, repeat, die.
During this time, we were faithful in church. We attended regularly, we served occasionally, and we gave faithfully. All good but all somewhat superficial when you look at the heart. You see, God wants more and at this time not only were we oblivious to what that meant, but we were resistant to even research it further. You see our self-satisfaction does not want to be interrupted, even by God. We as humans have this innate ability to create for ourselves nests of selfish comfort, satisfaction and convenience and when we get good and nestled down in that nest, we’re awfully hard to evict.
But in the summer of 2015, God called, and His voice has a way of superseding and dominating all other facets of your life. We sold our home, sold our cars, had an estate sale and sold it all. We shortly after moved to Maui in 6 suitcases and served as volunteers for 2 years at a little Baptist church in a town of 10,000. We still to this day call it God “righting the ship.” Now I’m not saying that this is for everyone, but I am saying that everyone should take an inventory of their lives. Start with a physical inventory. What’s in your life and out of that what do you really need? For us, we looked up one day after taking a physical inventory and realized that our possessions owned us and not the other way around. The American dream had betrayed us. The stuff in our lives had become a burden not a blessing.
One of my favorite financial quotes is “God knows how much money it will take to ruin you and He gives you just a little less.” You see, God does know exactly what we need. Food, shelter, clothing, money to pay rent and maybe even a safe car and some gas to get to work. But folks, after that, it’s all on us. Sell the big house to get an even bigger house? Get a second job to buy a fancier car? Open another credit card to take that dream vacation? Skip giving to God because all the bills are due? All choices that will quickly ensnare us as we extend our wants well beyond God’s borders.
You see, just as God set clear borders for the Israelites, He sets borders for us. Let me ask you a question. How much money do you really need to be happy? The answer is all of it. You see there is not enough money or stuff in the world to buy yourself true happiness. We see millionaires committing suicide, their money useless to console them. We see wealthy superstars overdose monthly as they seek to find happiness in drugs as their money cannot offer the happiness they sought. We see lottery winners quickly go broke, their lives worse than before they won millions.
But joy, friends, joy is another issue all together. Joy is a free gift and no money on the planet can purchase it. It’s a free gift and it comes directly from God and only from God. You see, if you pursue God with all of your heart and seek to serve Him at all costs, His joy will come knocking on the door of your heart. And as you open that door to joy, you will experience a freedom, peace and goodness that cannot compare with the things of this world.
Today, seek God over the things of the world. The things of the world will all fade, but the joy of Jesus Christ will accompany you into an eternity in the presence of Almighty God.
“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” Matthew 6:19-21
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