Then he said to them, "Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions." Luke12:15
The common quip that powerfully defines materialism is the saying: "Whoever dies with the most toys wins."
This little saying also clearly exposes the lie of materialism, because we all know that once we have died our "toys" remain behind.
The problem is that although we see it clearly when we take a step or two back, we often lose perspective when we are in the hurly burly of it.
Jesus gives a strong two-fold warning: "Watch out!" and "Be on your guard!" He knows how subtle this is. We mean well - we set out to provide for the family, but, before we know it, we are spending all our time and energy obtaining, paying for, insuring, maintaining and safe-guarding our possessions. It seems that the more we have, the more we have to look after and maintain.
The problem is not that we posses stuff. It is when our stuff possesses us. Jesus warns that it happens easily. This is not about guilt (which often just paralyses us) it is about watchfulness.
Take a little time right now to zoom up out of the forest and the rat race.... What are the really important and eternal gifts that you have? (Did you think of your faith, your family, your health and your friends?) This and not your possessions is your real wealth.
What "stuff-agendas" can you you push to one side today in favour of the things that are really important?
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Theo Groeneveld theo@emmanuel.org.za
You can see past EmmDevs at http://emmdev.blogspot.com/
