He who loves money will not be satisfied with money, nor he who loves abundance with its income. This too is vanity. When good things increase, those who consume them increase. So what is the advantage to their owners except to look on? The sleep of the working man is pleasant whether he eats little or much; but the full stomach of the rich man does not allow him to sleep. Ecclesiastes 5:10-12 HCSB
As human beings we are made to want more. The question for today is what is it that you are craving more of? Is it money, is it social status, is it material goods? What is it that you just can’t seem to get enough of? Is it chocolate or some other type of junk food or comfort food?
Our scripture passage tells us that the love of money or hoarding riches will always leave us wanting more. We will never be satisfied with what we have. If we love money, we can never have enough of it. If we make more of it, we spend more of it. We never seem to get ahead that way.
When I would tell my mom that I wanted something, like some type of toy I had seen on a commercial, she would respond by saying, “Your wants will never hurt you.” As I got older I came to realize that wanting something was okay. But my supervisor used to always say, “Be careful what you wish for or you may get what you want and not have what you need.” These two sayings go hand in hand. When we want things that we don’t need they can cause problems for us.
The problem we run into when we crave things that go against God’s commands is that they tend to pull us in and we want more and more of it until it destroys us. So, wanting something won’t hurt us, but getting it might. In the ten commandments, commandment number 10 says, “Thou shalt not covet.” Sin usually begins with our wanting something that we should not have.
I want you to ask yourself today, are you addicted to any substance or activity that is causing problems or could potentially be disastrous for you? One good way to test if something is good or bad is whether or not you keep it a secret. If we are addicted to something good for us like exercise, we are happy to tell others about it. No one cares if their friends and family see them run a marathon. But, if we are addicted to something like pornography, an extramarital affair, alcohol, or drugs we like to keep that a secret.
What is it that you crave or just can’t get enough of? We are told in James 4:3, we have not because we ask with wrong motives so that we may spend it on our desires. God is not going to give us something that is harmful to us. He is certainly not going to give us something that will destroy us. God never tempts us, but He will allow the devil to tempt us and we have free will. This is where the problem comes in.
If the temptation is more than you can take, turn to God. We often don’t turn to God because we want our sin more than we want Him. But trust me, no good will come from sinning. If you live long enough, that sin will drag you down so far and make you so miserable that you will probably end up crying out to God anyway. By that time you may have suffered shame and even total devastation. You can avoid all that by just turning to God to help you resist temptation. We are told in James 4:7 that if we submit to God and resist the devil, he will flee from us. God will allow the devil to tempt you, but if you submit to Him, He will send the devil packing.
If you have already gotten bogged down in your sin and are miserable, it’s not too late to turn to God. He can pull you out of the mess you have gotten yourself into. He can clean you up and make you good as new. He will meet you where you are. Surrender yourself to Him.
When we replace our craving for sinful things with a craving for God, we can be content. Paul said in Philippians 4:11-13 that he had learned to be content regardless of his circumstances. Paul spent a great deal of his ministry in prison. He had been shipwrecked, stoned, and had suffered a great deal for his love of Christ, but he was content and he had joy and peace in his heart.
Hebrews 13:5 tells us to keep our lives free from the love of money and be content with what we have for Jesus will never leave us or forsake us.
Whatever you are wanting more and more of these days can be replaced with Jesus Christ. He will bring you contentment, security, peace and joy. I am telling you this from personal experience, but don’t take my word for it. Try it for yourself.
Have a great day!