Sunday, March 22, 2009

Never Satisfied

NEVER SATISFIED
Robert E. Lee is supposed to have made the following comment about Christmas: "Postal officials tell us that before Christmas, tons of letters are delivered to the post office to Santa Claus, but after Christmas, very few letters of thanks are written to him! From childhood onward, human beings seem to be characterized by thanklessness." (21st CC Nov/Dec 2008, P.24)

I hope Robert E. Lee is wrong, but my suspicious would tend to agree with him. One of the reasons is my own life experience. I’ve never written a thank you letter to Santa Claus.

As a kid I loved Christmas, Easter, Halloween and birthdays. I loved that each one of these special days brought special gifts with them. But how long after one of these days does it take for us to begin thinking about what we would like next Christmas, next Easter, next Halloween, or on our next birthday?

Financial fortunes in our country are made every day. Some industries are still booming and have not yet felt any of the financial reversals. I hope they don’t! I hope we have some strong industries that can carry us for awhile until others are developed. I certainly hope for that. But it doesn’t hurt to keep a few ideas in mind.

One, every blessing we have is from God. Whether it be the blessing of a new car or a new bicycle. Every meal we eat is a blessing from God, whether it is a plump turkey or a lean ear of corn. Deut. 8:10-14; 18.

Two, thanksgiving and gratitude is always a proper response to God, no matter how much or how little we may actually have. "Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name." Psalm 100:4

Three, even a little with the Lord is better than an abundance of material things without him. "Better a little with the fear of the LORD than great wealth with turmoil." Proverbs 15:16. "Better a meal of vegetables where there is love than a fattened calf with hatred." Proverbs 15:17

Notice how these proverbs focus on the importance of relationship with God, relationship with others, and the importance of spiritual values over and above having things of this world.

Four, at some point in life it is appropriate for us to say, "Lord, thank you for everything you have given me. I have enough." I don’t know what that point is. Even as I say this I’m thinking about a sports jacket I would like. Do I really need it?

Do you have older people in your family who say, "Don’t give us anything for Christmas, we have enough? What a place to be in life, content to say "I have enough. I'm satisfied. Thank you Lord."

Do you have enough?

Warren Baldwin

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