By David ReayFriday 10 Apr 2015LifeWords DevotionalsCultureReading Time: 0 minutes
Transcript:
Read 1 Timothy 6:6-10
6 Yet true godliness with contentment is itself great wealth. 7 After all,we brought nothing with us when we came into the world,and we can’t take anything with us when we leave it. 8 So if we have enough food and clothing,let us be content.
9 But people who long to be rich fall into temptation and are trapped by many foolish and harmful desires that plunge them into ruin and destruction. 10 For the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. And some people,craving money,have wandered from the true faith and pierced themselves with many sorrows. (NLT)
Some people spend much of their time and energy trying to ‘get to the top’. It could entail accumulation of material possessions. The more I have the more successful I have been. Or could be getting the top job in the corporate world. My position at the top of the pile shows I am a successful person.
All this grasping ambition leaves us breathless and strained,leaves little time for forming deep relationships. In fact,people becomes means to our own self-centred ends. They are to be used by us in our drive to the top. Climbing the ladder of accumulation or ambition might mean climbing over others along the way.
Our text reminds us that it is not possessions or even ambition that is wrong. It is our making it our priority in life. Ambition in seeking to be a better follower of Jesus is a good thing. And possessions used wisely can be a blessing to us and others. But if these become our overriding desire then our life is out of harmony with God.
Our God is not some over-enthusiastic life coach urging us to get ahead. He calls us rather than drives us. Life is more than a climb to the top of the heap. Life is more than a rat race. The fruit of the Spirit is more than push and drive and climb and grasp and trample.
Blessings
David Reay