Obsessed with Stuff
September 16, 2007 · Print This Article
“Be on your guard against every form of greed.”
Luke 12:15 NASB
In 1900 the average person living in the United States wanted seventy-two different things and considered eighteen of them essential. Today the average person wants five hundred things and considers one hundred of them essential.
Our obsession with stuff carries a hefty price tag. Eighty percent of us battle the pressure of overdue bills. We spend 110 percent of our disposable income trying to manage debt. And who can keep up? We no longer measure ourselves against the Joneses next door but against the star on the screen or the stud on the magazine cover. Hollywood’s diamonds make yours look like a gumball-machine toy. Who can satisfy Madison Avenue? No one can. For that reason Jesus warns, “Be on your guard against every form of greed” (Luke 12:15 NASB).
1 of 365 devotionals in Grace for the Moment, Volume 2
Originally printed in Cure for the Common Life
Mirrored:
In our world today where technology and gadgets seems to be plaguing the market, we can easily be bitten by the greed bug. It is not just a matter of wanting a number of things but also wanting the latest of those things. We should check ourselves especially if the wanting doesn’t stop with the acquiring.
I think I have some issues to deal with this greed thing. I should be regularly checking myself because I think there is a thin line between being greedy and one’s ambition. I guess the best thing to do is learn to appreciate the things you have now.
That is unwise. Spending yourself into debt, when movie stars actually spend a fraction of their income, and manage their finances much better than the average person.
LEON,
unwise indeed. bottom line, do not spend more than what you can earn. but greed is also not limited to that.
have a great monday!
Technology and convenience has made us think that we need certain things that people didn’t need a couple of hundred years ago.
I often think of this fact you posted, and think of how many could be helped with all the money spent on fashionable and “in” thingies which are not even essential to life.
We all are guilty of succumbing to the convenience the world has brought us, it’s become an addiction. Sometimes we just need to learn and tell ourselves “no”.
ZEROVOLTAGE,
you are right. we need not fall to the bait technology has for us. we can only blame ourselves for our lack of control.
i know that technology made things better for us. but somehow, i also believed that it made things complicated for us as well.
there is truth in the movie, “the gods must be crazy”.