Flat panel televisions are all the rage. Forty-six inch? Ahh, that’s last year’s model. Let’s go for the sixty inch. In addition, we have apps that can turn our smart phones and tablet computers into hand-held television screens.
In our cars? We have televisions built into the headliner or embedded in the rear of the front seats.
We have televisions everywhere, even packed in the back of our closets. We can’t even give them away, because our twenty-six inch just isn’t big enough anymore.
No one wants it.
Why do we need so many televisions? Why does what we have never seem to be enough? Twenty pairs of shoes, with five we’ve never worn. Seven watches, four pairs of sunglasses, and don’t even count the shirts hanging in the closet.
Extra laptops? But only the newest one does the job really well. The rest are half-measures. And still, we want that newer, higher-end model, and we will do anything to get it.
Our blessings have begun to own us, taking our time away from the Lord.
Proverbs 13:23 addresses our bounty of extra. In this verse, we are cautioned that we become poor even as we have plenty.
What brings this about? Our lack of good judgment. When what we have isn’t enough, soon our stuff owns us. We spend more time buying goods and maintaining our lifestyle than we spend in service for our Lord.
For lack of judgment, we lose our high standing with the Lord in favor of those things that have no substance in the spiritual world.
All because we want one television too many.
Admittedly, it’s not just the televisions. Proverbs 13:23 is really about using what God gives us wisely. How we conduct ourselves in the physical world—managing our money, the things we purchase, giving to God’s work—reflects where we are at spiritually. When we put God first in our lives, then the things of the world will pale in comparison, and we will never feel poor. We will always have plenty, because our plenty is found in our relationship with him.
Matthew 6:33 says it well.
“But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.”
When we have Jesus, our bank account doesn’t matter. When we spend our time seeking Jesus, we will be rich in him.
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