Good Morning Everyone,
Our theme for this month: “The fear of not having enough”
Our Bible verse for today: “Watch out and be on guard against all greed because one’s life is not in the abundance of his possessions.” Luke 12:15 (HCSB)
Our thought for today: “There has to be more to life than this.”
Yesterday I told you about a 2015 survey of millionaires which produced the surprising revelation that a very large percentage of rich people are insecure about their financial future. In the survey a majority strongly believed they needed to have twice as much as they already have in order to feel secure. That was true of those millionaires and it tends to be true for most for us, regardless of our income level.
In his book, “The God Guarantee: Finding Freedom from the Fear of Not Having Enough”, Jack Alexander writes, “America is filled with comfortably prosperous people who mostly feel they don’t have enough. They are dominated and controlled by a pervasive sense of resource scarcity and precariousness.” He then goes on to say that fear in itself is fundamentally selfish – it is a preoccupation with the self. The fear of not having enough is a selfish preoccupation with not just our own provision, but with our own comfort and not even just that, but with our own continued high level of comfort.
We all know this is true. As was noted yesterday, we live in the most affluent society in the world. But we also have the largest proportion of people on anti-depressant medications than any nation in the world. Beyond that, we also have one of the highest levels of personal indebtedness per capita, and the resulting financial strains that come with being deeply in debt. And, we have one of the highest suicide rates in the developed world.
How could that be? How could so many have so much and still be so unhappy – and so fearful of not having enough? Evidently there must be more to life than just having a lot of stuff.
Jesus spoke about that in Luke 12:15. He taught that there is more to life than just money and possessions. In fact, not only are money and possessions not the most important thing in life, often they get in the way of true happiness.
Let me be clear that money and possessions are not bad. I would rather have money and possessions than not have money and possessions. But how we think about such things, and the place they are allowed to occupy in our heart, is crucial to our overall sense of joy and contentment, and to the real quality of our lives.
In his book Jack does not debunk the value or importance of money or possessions. He himself is a multi-millionaire. Although he grew up in impoverished circumstances, he went on to become a successful businessman, investor, corporate CEO, and financial advisor. But Jack is one of those special people who learned how to hold it all lightly and to use it well for the glory of God and for the benefit of the Kingdom. In the process, he discovered some wonderful promises from God regarding His provision for His people.
You may be surprised by some of what we learn this month.
God Bless,
Pastor Jim
Oak Hill Baptist Church 