Embracing this Truth is an Acquired Taste

Scripture Verse that caught my attention today: 1 Timothy 6:7 for we brought nothing into the world, so that we can take nothing out of it;

Observation: This is a truth we try very hard to ignore but yet cannot deny. To embrace this truth is an acquired taste; it doesn't come naturally.

Application: For whatever reason, much of humanity is in a futile quest to acquire what it cannot keep. From my travels it is my observation that this is less true in other countries than it is in the USA, but it is still true at least to some extent everywhere. I’m not exactly immune from it myself. It begs the question, “why?”

Why do we have such a perceived need to acquire?
For people who lived through the depression, one might be able to understand it; people who have lived with nothing naturally understand the benefits of having something in reserve for a rainy day. But on the other hand, they should know as well as anyone that they still ‘lived’ through the depression. By the grace of God they made it. Why should they need any more reassurance?

For the rest of us, our motives are less clear. Perhaps it’s the cumulative and compounding affect of a lifetime’s worth of exposure to advertising. But I suspect the craving goes much deeper than that. We see, we want—like the story of Adam and Eve in the garden long ago. We want to be our own little gods instead of trusting the one God who can bring us to life not just once, but twice.

Some time ago we bought a car for $400 dollars from an aging relative. The car was built in 1986 and has less than 80,000 miles on it. We bought it as a back-up car since each of our other vehicles has a lot of miles. Our kids don’t like to ride in it (it’s not ‘cool’ after all!), but I’m finding that I love to drive it. The old clunker gets close to 30 mpg, has air conditioning, drives nice, and serves as a tangible reminder that it doesn’t take a shiny new model to safely get from point A to point B. I usually don’t lock it, don’t bother to look for scratches on the paint, and don’t worry about it in general. I think the writer of 1 Timothy would like for us all to feel that way about all of the material things in our lives.

Prayer: Lord, thanks for the subtle reminders that all that we really need can be found in you. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

(readings today included: 2 Kings 11-12, 2 Chronicles 24, 1 Timothy 6)