Oct 25, '09

Anxiety. Worry. Greed.

The passage today was from Luke, and one of the verses was, "Take care! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; for one's life does not consist in the abundance of posessions".

The most obvious thing this passage refers to is money. Most of us are in some way or another slaves to money. It's difficult not to be though - it's all around us. The false promises of the lottery. Obessions with the share market. The long hours we work is for some of us indirectly or directly related to the love of money.

It's not just money we're greedy about though. Many of us are greedy about all sorts of things. Relationships, family, the future. And with that greed comes worry.

There is no end to the things that we could worry about. Am I in the right course? Is this something I really want to do? Upon graduating, will I be able to get a job? Once I get the job, can I keep it? When will I get a promotion? Will I get married? Once I get married, will my spouse cheat on me? Will we be able to have children? Will we be able to raise them properly? What about retirement? How far will my superannuation go?

There is no end to the things that we could worry about - that is the human condition.

Worrying doesn't achieve anything. Especially worrying about these things. The problem is, all these things don't satisfy. Or, at least, they satisfy for a period of time. Until you get bored. Until you develop new hobbies. Until a natural disaster strikes. Until the Global Financial Crisis. Until a loved one dies. Until circumstances change and you can't go on.

I struggle sometimes with the above. Actually, reprhase. I struggle a lot of the times with the above. But through everything, I do know I believe in something beyond this. I believe in something eternal. I believe in it, not because it makes me "feel good" (in fact, it makes me feel bad quite a lot of the times) nor because it I want to create some sort of meaning in my life. No, I believe in it because I have read the Word of God, and have been convinced both through historical evidence and personal experience of Christ living in me, that the words in there are true and living.

It is easy to mess up. It is easy to think something else will satisfy. It doesn't.

Tonight, it is my absolute, deepest, most sincere prayer, that you will be able to find it too, and live a life free of anxiety, rather a life abundant and rich, experiencing the love of the everlasting God.