Not More, Not Less

"...give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with the food that is needful for me, lest I be full and deny you and say, "who is the Lord?" or lest I be poor and steal and profane the name of my God." -Prov. 30:8b-9-

From television shows to video messages and other blog on the internet, and even my observations of people around this past few days there is one subject that has impacted my devotional--getting rich and greed.

There was this television show that invited a speaker to speak about the way to amass wealth and so many things were being given as tips. People around me are busy engaging in activities that may augment their day job income. But, there were also messages that reminds me of how greed infiltrated the society that we are living in. I was even led to the aforementioned Bible verse.

Do not get me wrong. There is nothing wrong with earning extra or even amassing wealth. However, the motive of doing so or even the amount of time spent on such activities must be checked.

Let us delve first on the motive. Do you want to earn extra so you can live a luxurious lifestyle indulging in activities that are tagged by the society as for the "rich and famous?" Or you may just want your children or family to enjoy what are the latest trends in the society? Or you just want to amass more wealth for the future of your children?

If these are your motives, can you imagine how you may have been spending the 24-hour day that you have. These motives are noble on the surface as it is for the benefit for your family. The reality is that these motives ruin your personal and family life. No wonder that delinquents are increasing in number because parents are spending less time with their children.

This we have to reflect. Which one is more important your physical or spiritual satisfaction? We must at least balance both. As Jesus taught us by saying "man does not live by bread alone, but by every Word that comes from God." This means that we have to feed both the lust of our bodies for material things and the joy and peace--through the communion with God--that our spirit needs.

Ones motive then should be to share that wealth, if it exceeds your needs. However one must also be careful if the time you have been spending in wealth building should not come in the way of your activities that will feed your spirituality. The time that you fellowship with both your biological and spiritual families, as well as your personal communion with the Lord.

At the end of the day, what is paramount is to live a life in moderation and contentment. How do we determine what is moderate? Moderation is one where you will not be so rich that you may be enjoying the abundance of material things that you may feel you do not need God nor being too poor that you may profane the name of God by stealing. Having said that, contentment in life is the key.