Scripture:
- "If only we had meat to eat! We remember the fish we ate in Egypt at no cost—also the cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions and garlic. But now we have lost our appetite; we never see anything but this manna!" (Number 11:4-6)
- Now a wind went out from the LORD and drove quail in from the sea. It brought them down all around the camp to about three feet above the ground, as far as a day's walk in any direction. All that day and night and all the next day the people went out and gathered quail. No one gathered less than ten homers. Then they spread them out all around the camp. But while the meat was still between their teeth and before it could be consumed, the anger of the LORD burned against the people, and he struck them with a severe plague. (Numbers 11: 31-34)
Observation: Look around us. You can see the signs of our ever deepening recession. The gloomy faces of those walking down the street serve as reminders of our failing times. We look around for something...one thing...that will make us happy once again. Now even though bills plague our lives, and our shrinking wages choke our wallets, some still look for gratification in spending our money on frivolous items that we really don't need. We wander the malls looking for bargains on things so that we can satisfy our need to be happy. However, as this verse tells us, we may find temporary contentment in our purchases, but ultimately, if we continue to spend thoughtlessly, we will never find that true unending joy we all want. Our debt will grow, our spending will increase as we find more ways to satisfy our cravings, and eventually we will run out of money and be stuck in a hole so deep, we cant see the light of day.
Application: I'm reminded of something a friend and I were discussing a few days ago. He told me about a book he was reading regarding finances. To be quite honest, I wasn't paying as much attention as I should have been, but of the few things I picked up, two words etched themselves into my brain. Those two words: ASSETS and LIABILITIES. Let me describe what that means. When you buy something, they are either an asset, or a liability. An asset pays for itself. It helps you to reach a goal and will continue to serve you regardless of changing trends or fashions. It never becomes boring because it's something that you utilize constantly. A liability is something that after it serves its brief purpose of making you happy, you start thinking to yourself, 'did I really need that?', and you end up putting it down, not using it for years. Here's an example; I'm gonna buy a fancy designer watch that costs hundreds of dollars all because it looks nice. I tell myself "hey...its an asset cuz it will help me be on time to work." Is it really an asset? Hey yeah I look nice, I can tell the time now, but did I really need to spend hundreds of dollars on something that does the same things as something that costs twenty bucks? I challenge each and everyone of you, as well as myself, to start looking at what we buy and seeing if it will be an asset, or a liability to us. When you go to the mall and see that thing that COULD make you happy, ask yourself, will that help me in the future...will that pay for itself by helping me in reaching success, or will it make me happy, and eventually become a liability because it grows out of fashion, or becomes boring. One of the biggest assets in the world, is what we already have. The family that loves us dearly, the love that God has given each and everyone of us. Sometimes we lose sight of what God has already blessed us with, and crave that bigger or better thing. We need to find the contentment in what WE have, and not what OTHERS have. Now that's not to say we shouldn't strive to be better than where we are. But we shouldn't crave those things that in the end, will only become liabilities and drag us further down into the hole.
Prayer: Heavenly Father, I thank You for everything You've blessed me with in this life. I know I crave things that I shouldn't. I know I want more things than those You have already blessed me with. I ask for Your wisdom Lord, so that I may make better decisions in the things I buy, and that I may be content in what I already have. I ask that You give me the foresight to see the things that I should strive for, and the knowledge to know when to back off and cherish what I already have. I trust in You that You will give me what I need so that I may serve in the plan you have set for my life. In Jesus name, Amen.
