“Life does not consist in an abundance of possessions.” – Jesus 

This past Sunday, we talked about living a life of simplicity.  If you missed that message, you can find it here.  While simplicity does deal with the way we relate to our money and possessions, it is first and foremost a single-minded devotion to God.  As the Psalmist David so eloquently described it, “One thing I ask and one thing I will seek – to dwell in the house of the Lord forever.” ~ Psalm 27:4 (NIV)

This single-minded devotion to God functions like a prism – it’s not that we don’t love anything else, but instead, God becomes the prism by which all our other loves and relationships are reflected and refracted in holy and healthy ways. 

Any love that is not first filtered through the prism of God’s goodness, character, and love will inevitably become distorted and disordered.

That’s why so many of us find ourselves thinking so wrongly about who we are.

We are not what we possess.  We are not who we are with.  We are not what we feel.  We are not what we do.

By the grace of God, we are worth far more than these things (Luke 12:4-7), but when what we possess, who we are with, or what we feel is not first filtered through the prism of God, these things become exasperated and exaggerated, distorted and disordered – we become distorted and disordered.

Let me give you an example.  Social scientists have discovered there is a monetary level where we human beings experience little to no additional happiness above and beyond it.  You can read the article about this study here.  What their study revealed was that emotional well-being flatlined somewhere between $60,000-75,000 (annual income per person) and that overall life satisfaction tapered off after $95,000.  In fact, according to their study, happiness actually decreased after a person made beyond $105,000 annually. 

While I’m sure there are certainly nuances to this study, even if we accept its finding on estimated, general terms, it begs the question why – why would the average person not be more happy with more money, but actually become potentially less happy, less satisfied, less fulfilled? 

Here’s how one researcher interviewed in the article interpreted the limits of money on human happiness: “At the end of the day, we’re humans and we struggle with existential issues like what’s the meaning of life, and who am I?” 

The late rap artist Notorious B.I.G. put it in slightly simpler terms saying, “Mo’ money, mo’ problems.”

In other words, while we do certainly need things like money, food, clothes, shelter, etc., these things simply do not have the capacity to speak to the deepest needs of life.  When these things become our answers, we have settled for something that will invariably, in time, unsettle us.

It’s why Jesus taught, “Watch out!  Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; life does not consist in an abundance of possessions.”

His words make me wonder – what are we guarding against? 

We guard our wealth in banks and investments.  We arm our homes at night with security systems.  We lock our doors and our windows and our safes, but are we guarding our hearts? 

Proverbs 4:23 says, “Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.”

It’s fascinating to me that in a conversation about material possessions, Jesus teaches us to guard against our greed rather than to guard our things. 

Certainly, Jesus isn’t saying there’s something wrong with locking our doors at night or exercising fiscal prudence.  We are to be, “as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves” (Matthew 10:16), but what I think Jesus is getting at is how often we confuse the eternal for the temporary, what is infinite for what is finite.  We apply all sorts of energy, time, and resources to protecting what will not last and often overlook what God has imbued with eternal destiny.

God has placed eternity in our hearts (Ecclesiastes 3:11) and no amount of temporary possessions can satisfy that longing.

If our lives don’t consist of an abundance of possessions, if money, cars, boats, and clothes can’t speak into the deepest parts of who we are, then we must take the words of Jesus seriously when he teaches us that our strongest defensive measures must be placed upon our hearts, not our possessions. 

So, what can we do?  Let me give you two actions to consider:

Learn to discern between deep desires and strong desires. 

Deep desires are the truest longings of our heart and rooted in who God is and who He created us to be.  However, just because they are deep, doesn’t mean they’re strong.  Strong desires often feel deep because they are immediate, loud, and demanding.  They come to us like urges or impulses and because of their intensity and how easily they can be satisfied, they often get more of our attention and reaction.  This is why Psalm 27:4 tells us to “seek/enquire” of God in His temple. 

Seeking/enquiring here literally means to ‘plough’ – to dig up, unearth, and break up.  Discerning between deep desires and strong desires means we’ve got to do the more difficult work of breaking up the ground of our hearts in order to get to those deeper, more eternal longing placed within us by God.  Just because it’s strong, doesn’t mean it’s good; Just because it’s loud, doesn’t mean it is God.  Far too often, we are far too busy chasing strong than going deep and we must learn to discern between the two.

Delay personally, discuss communally

After Jesus warns us to guard against all kinds of greed and to remember that life doesn’t consist of an abundance of possessions, he tells the story of a foolish farmer who was blessed by an abundant harvest  (See Luke 12:13-21 and note that credit is given to the ground, not the man’s efforts, for the extravagant harvest).  Long story short, after he realizes how bountiful his harvest is, he only speaks to himself.  He reasons within the confines of his own heart and mind and never speaks with his friends, his community, or even God. 

If we think our wealth, our money, our possessions exist purely unto ourselves, there’s no need to discuss what we have with anyone else, including God.  However, if we truly believe every good thing we have is a gift from God – a blessing by which we can participate in the joy of blessing others – then we must delay decisions on how to use what we have until we’ve brought what we have before God and before a trusted community.

One of the foolish farmer’s biggest mistakes was determining what to do with his blessed abundance apart from God and apart from a trusted community.  For us not to fall into such foolishness ourselves, we must slow down and enter into loving dialogue with those we trust regarding what has been entrusted to us. 

You and I are more than what we have.

Our world wants us to believe that bigger is better and more money, more stuff, more wealth will make us happy.  Chase the strong, ignore the deep, and then…then you’ll be whole.

The scriptures teach otherwise.  More and bigger aren’t necessarily better.  Better is better and as the Psalmist declares, “Better is one day in your courts than a thousand elsewhere.” ~ Psalm 84:10 (NIV)

So, may we give ourselves over to this beautiful simplicity – to that which is better – to a single-minded devotion to God where God and God alone is more than enough.  May we start here and may it touch every other area of our lives for the glory of God and the sake of the world.