Spend Less 3 - Matthew 6:19-24

Matthew 6:19-24

Have you ever felt a moment of complete contentment? If you have, it probably had nothing to do with anything you bought or were given or achieved. It probably had to do with an internal feeling of wholeness that had something to do with God. Earthly things alone can't give us contentment. It is just a part of how we are created. St. Augustine wrote in the 4th century that "Our hearts are restless until they rest in Thee, O Lord."

The imprint of the divine that we have deep within us seeks out God. We try to calm that restlessness with all sorts of other things our entire lives - earthly succesess, material goods, mind altering substances, even trying to control our bodies through unhealthy methods. All of these things that we find ourselves obsessing over are ways we try to seek contentment. But we will never really find contentment until we seek it in God.

If we are constantly chasing after things of this world, we cannnot chase after God. It is like a person who has an affair outside of their marriage. You cannot be committed and faithful to two people at the same time no matter how hard you try.

God wants us to choose Him. Not because it is good for him, but because it is good for us. When we make a conscious choice to choose God every day, we have less of a need to run in the rat race or keep up with the neighbors because we realize that our value doesn't lie in what we posess or in what others think of us. Our value lies in the fact that God loves us, totally and completely.

Almighty God, help us to choose you over the world. Help us learn how to focus more on you so that the world we live in becomes a place for us to improve life for others, rather than a place where we compete with others. Amen.

CS