There has been a lot of things on my mind when I think about my family. One of the many things is on how more importance is put on material items instead of people and God. Materialism is when we are preoccupied with material things instead of relationships and God. We are to “love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might” (Deuteronomy 6:5). How can we serve God if we are preoccupied with material items?
I left home at a young age and I am thankful everyday that I did that. I realized as a child that money and possessions was always going to be more important than I was to my parents and that also goes for my siblings. As I was getting older, I felt I was different. The reason I say that is that I never really cared about keeping up appearances and the Jones. I wanted a nice home and I had aspirations of driving a Corvette or a Silverado Truck. I also had dreams of marrying Donny Osmond and was heart broken when he got married. I thought the song Puppy Love was written with me in mind. I guess he didn’t get the memo that told him he was mine. These things at the time seemed important to me. It isn’t unrealistic to want nice things and to dream.
When I look at how people on the show “Hoarders” accumulate items that they think they have to have. I can’t help but think of how my childhood was. My parents had nice cars and always a nice place. I remember one day as I was standing at sink doing dishes my grandpa Doyle told me that he would give me a dollar and I could have it if I gave him a hug. Something was wrong with that statement. I was upset and I got the impression at that point that money buys love in his mind. I did and still do love my Grandpa Doyle. He would take us out rock hunting and would spend time with us when our parents basically pushed us aside. He didn’t need to pay me to have me give him a hug. My parents or I should say my mom also did something like that. I left home when I was 14. She told me that if I came back she would buy me $300.00 worth of cloths. When in reality all she needed to do was to say that she missed me and loved me and that is all it would have taken to return home.
Material items and prestige has a way of ruining people. There is no amount of money or power that can make a person happy. God isn’t against us if we want to drive a awesome sports car as long as it is something we can afford. God gives us everything that we need. For me, I needed to focus more on the blessings God has given me and the principles in the Bible. It isn’t always easy to do that. I can have all the riches and health the world can provide. But, they will never truly make me happy. When I look at what the Bible has to say, it isn’t about all the stuff that we have that makes us materialistic, it is our attitude. In 1 Timothy 6:10 is says, “The love of money is the root of all kinds of evil”. I can totally see how this is possible.
Just the other day a women who won the lottery committed suicide. She had enough money to take care of her and her needs for life. But it wasn’t enough to make her happy. I can see how it is the root of all evil when it comes to my family also. My parents have nothing, yet everyone is there trying to take what little they have. When there is no money or stuff anymore, they they take off and they are no longer there. Once they get what they want, they are out of there. I have a friend who died and wow, the vultures came out of the woodwork faster than nothing.
Money and greed has a way of destroying people. I always thought I wanted to win the lottery and build a huge house and donate to my church. That isn’t the case now. Many times people will ask each other what will they do with the money if they won. I have my long list of things. I don’t think I could handle that amount of money. All I could see is that people would be wanting to be my friend because of the money and what I could offer them. Too many times we rely on material things that we feel could complete our lives. When really only God can take care of our needs and help us feel satisfied.
In the Bible Solomon is the richest and most powerful king that was known. Solomon had everything any man has ever wanted and yet he wasn’t happy. With all the wealth and material items Solomon had he didn’t have happiness and was unsatisfied. King Salomon said, “Whoever loves money never has money enough; whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with his income” (Ecclesiastes 5:10).
While I was looking up this topic the other day I came across this on one of the sites. It was saying that the Bible tells us that a person’s “life is not in the abundance of the things which he possesses” (Luke 12:15) and that we are to “seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness” (Matthew 6:33).
If someone were to come up to me and ask me if I was rich, I would say “of course I am”. Even though I would think they are asking about material wealth like a huge bank account, expensive cars, a large house and so on. When I think of the wealth and riches I have, I think of my family and friends. I don’t need money to make me happy. God has blessed me beyond measure. Christ wants us to understand where the true treasure may be found. It is not to be found upon this earth, but in the eternal realm. True riches can’t be locked up in a bank. It is found in service to God. There is a verse in the Bible that talks about how difficult for the wealthy to enter God’s kingdom. I have wondered why it would be hard for them to enter God’s kingdom and I would think it is because they place the things before God and their first priorities are their material possessions and themselves.
In conclusion I just want to say that I need to make sure that I put God first in my life. All things belongs to him. Also we shouldn’t put our trust in material items and wealth. Stock markets, banks and other businesses go bankrupt and collapse.But God will never fail and He is always there.
C. S. Lewis once said, “All that is not of eternal use, is eternally useless.”
Senseless Ramblings of the Mindless 