Endless Prayer

Unless you have been living under a rock you know that the US economy has been taking a thrashing over the last few months. Many people have lost a lot of money and many are asking if it is going to get worse. First lets look at the root cause of our current crisis: Greed.

Luke 12:15-21:

15. Then he said, “Beware! Guard against every kind of greed. Life is not measured by how much you own.”

16. Then he told them a story: “A rich man had a fertile farm that produced fine crops. 17. He said to himself, ‘What should I do? I don’t have room for all my crops.’ 18. Then he said, ‘I know! I’ll tear down my barns and build bigger ones. Then I’ll have room enough to store all my wheat and other goods. 19. And I’ll sit back and say to myself, “My friend, you have enough stored away for years to come. Now take it easy! Eat, drink, and be merry!”’

20. “But God said to him, ‘You fool! You will die this very night. Then who will get everything you worked for?’

21. “Yes, a person is a fool to store up earthly wealth but not have a rich relationship with God.”

There has been a lot of analysis on the current crisis and many experts agree that the source of the problem is homeowners inability to pay their mortgages. For years banks have been giving loans to home buyers who did not have the funds to own a home. Many of these loans were given because the banks had been encouraged by the government to take on greater risk to get more people in a home.

At the root of this crisis is our own sinful nature, our desire to have more at any cost. In the scripture above we are warned against measuring our life’s worth by what we own. Beware! the scriptures say, guard against every kind of greed.

In this scripture the farmer is a very hard worker and has acquired much material goods for his effort. Compare this with the years of excess that the United States has enjoyed. The farmer although very successful by farmers standards failed to understand that life was not just about how much wheat he could grow. This also correlates perfectly with the United States, for years we have enjoyed the success that all of our hard work has produced and we have made this success the focus of our lives.

We must pay close attention to the last part of this scripture and also take head to the warnings that it presents.  We are foolish to chase after material wealth and take for granted the relationship that God desires to have with us.

We are warned, not that God will kill us because of our greed, but that life is too short to focus on what we can attain materially. Christian before you seek to gain more material wealth seek after the Kingdom of God, seek after the Heart of God.

Endless Prayer:

My prayer is that we would all seek first the Kindom of God and his will for our lives. I Pray that our eyes would be fixed on God and that we would all learn to be content with what we have. May we never be content in our relationship with God and always desire to be closer to him.