By Chris WittsWednesday 11 May 2022Morning Devotions with Chris WittsFaithReading Time: 1 minute
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Transcript:
There is an old song going back for Frank Sinatra titled ‘The Best Things in Life are Free’, and one of the verses say “the moon belongs to everyone. The flowers in Spring, the robins that sing the moonbeams that shine and love can come to everyone. The best things in life are free.”
A number of other music artists have sung this song because it hasn’t lost its meaning and its charm. And how do you respond to this sentence? The best things in life are free. Do you agree with that? Sure, money can buy a lot of things, but that’s about it.
They’re things material. Possessions are great, but happiness doesn’t come from the items we own. It comes from a little child’s smile or laugh or your mother’s cooking. It shows up on a sunny day or seeing your best friends walk down the aisle at the wedding. There are heaps of examples of events and people that bring you joy that don’t cost anything.
The Best Things in Life are Free
That’s an ancient proverb that’s got this deep, hidden meaning and it relates to all the things that money cannot buy. It’s closely related with another proverb. Money cannot buy happiness. Happiness comes as a result of appreciating the smaller things in life. An individual who was alone in his big mansion can never be as happy as one person who stays with his family and kids in a small home. A BMW is useless if you’ve got no one beside you, but you can stay happy travelling in public transport if you are with the people you love.
Many people are discontented with their jobs or their families and their discontented with their situation in life. Or they believe that they just had more money, they could be content. If they could just get a few more of the material things of life than they’d be happy.
There are scores of studies around showing that material wealth does not create happiness. In three studies with 140 adolescents, Richard Ryan and Time Casa showed that those who had aspirations for wealth and fame were more depressed and had lower self esteem than other adolescents whose aspirations centered on self acceptance, family, friends and a sense of being in a community, and Richard Ryan says the wealth seekers also had a higher incidence of headaches, stomach aches and runny noses. Findings like these and others do not prove that rich people are unhappy. But they do point out that seeking material goals alone can remove us from vital connections with people and with nature and community.
Daniele Meadows, in her book Beyond the Limits, says, “people don’t need enormous cars, they need respect. They don’t need closets full of clothes. They just need to feel attractive and need excitement and variety and beauty. People don’t need electronic equipment. They need something worthwhile to do with their lives. People need identity, community challenge, acknowledgement, love and joy.” And she says, “to try and fill these needs with material things is to set up an unquenchable appetite for false solutions to real problems.
You can read articles and quotes like this all day, and it reaffirms that money and prestige will not give you joy.
Value in your own life
No, the best things which God gives you a free. Totally available to anyone, the rich and the poor, and these gifts will not cost one cent.
The little boy was walking along with his father, one day, he suddenly stopped and asked his father, “Dad, what’s the most important thing you have?” “You are”, he said. That’s a question to think about. What’s the most important thing you have? What would you answer? Having the latest car is not the most important thing, But having a happy family would come near the top of the list.
And the Bible says in James 1:17 – “Every good and perfect gift received comes to us from above, courtesy of the father of lights.”
He is consistent. He won’t change his mind. We have a special role in his plan. He calls us to life by his message of truth that show his goodness and love. Jesus Christ is our Saviour. He died on the cross for our sins. And he freely offers us salvation and a place in heaven at no cost. So that means that you’ve got fellowship with God all the time. He loves you. He wants to share life with you. And there is no greater gift in the whole universe than this one. To be accepted into God’s family.
Let’s Pray
Lord, how true it is the best things in life are free. Help me to take that on board today I pray in Jesus’ name.
Amen.