ANYthing Less Than EVERYthing Is Not Enough

John D. Rockefeller, the Bill Gates of his day, was once asked how much wealth was enough. The then richest man in the world did not hesitate to reply, "Just a little bit more than I have." It is hard to imagine how a fortune sufficient to last several lifetimes would not be enough for someone, but the truth is most of us know very little of contentment, regardless of our financial station in life. Deep inside the race is an avarice gene that pretty much guarantees that neither you nor I will be happy with ANYthing less than EVERYthing.

Consider our ancestors, Adam and Eve. They had executive privileges, as God's stewards over the whole earth, which gave them access to almost everything. In fact there was only one thing in the world they were denied; they had EVERYthing-1. But then, as now for most people, EVERYthing-1=Discontent, desire, GREED. We want it all!

We want new. But new loses its sparkle the instant we see newER. We want big. But big fails to impress us as soon as biggER hits the market. Fast is great until fastER comes along. Fancy is just fine for us as long as we don't encounter fanciER. ER, ER, ER, ER. Two of the most diabolical letters in the English language. While there are some definite advanatges to newER and biggER, there is no guarantee that newER+biggER=Better, and plenty of evidence to the contrary.

Don't get me wrong. I am glad that new surgical techniques made my recovery from the operation I had in July 2007 less painful and quicker than practices that had been state of the art just a few years earlier. And, though I think they might have been more reliable vehicles, I don't want to drive a Model T. And my wife is quite happy to have an automatic washing machine rather than the wringer washers our grandmothers used.

But, for those of you who have endured the many generations of Windows software, how much better is "7" than "98"? (Which is not meant to be an advertisement for Macs) Is a 2010 Mustang ten-fifteen times better a vehicle than my 1972 Mustang was, that it has to cost ten-fifteen times more? Though the color TV screen I watch the World Series on is huge compared to the black and white 17" model I used to have, I can't say that it really adds anything to my enjoyment of the contest, but there in the living room sits the modern behemoth. Of course, our economic system has been fueled by exploitation of most every consumer's greed button.

And, to keep that system going and growing we have witnessed the rise of the huge runaway credit industry which lets us push that greed button today, and pay for our pleasure for years and years to come. Of course, loud lamentations are heard throughout the land as we now cry out in pain from the collapse of the whole mess. Cars repossessed. Homes foreclosed. Businesses bankrupt. 10+ million unemployed. And still the allure of newER, biggER, fastER, fanciER tempts us with more and more in pursuit of the ever discontent consumerist lifestyle.

You know what Jesus did about all this? He came bearing a gift for all who would receive it--Life. Life full and abundant, overflowing with purpose and meaning, and contentment as well, with the desires of our heart all met in our delight in knowing Him. Funny, if we would just realize that Christ IS All, well we wouldn't have to settle for anything less than everything, because everything is fulfilled in Jesus.