Bible and AbundanceSample

ABUNDANCE- "HOW MUCH IS ENOUGH?"

Anselm Grün is a Benedictine monk and leader of a large corporation in southern Germany. In his book 'On Greed and Desire', he wrote, "The attitude of never having enough leads to nomadic behaviour and constant dissatisfaction. The desire for possession is actually a desire for rest. But the paradox is that we do not find peace precisely because the desire for more possesses us."

I asked many people the question, "How much is enough?" The common answer was," Just a little bit more." The paradox posited by Grün is that the more we have, the less satisfied we are because we are always stretching for more, which causes unrest.

This paradox was also described by Czech economist Dr. Tomas Sedlacek in his book, "The Economics of Good and Evil. "The more we have, the more we want. Why? Perhaps we thought that the more we have, the less we will need. We thought consumption would lead to the saturation of our needs. The opposite is true. The more we have, the more we want. Each satisfied desire leads to yet another and leaves us in want. Consumption is like a drug."

Being able to answer the question, "How much is enough?" is necessary for peace, satisfaction, freedom, and contentment. The writer of the letter to the Hebrews urges us to learn to be content with what we have. That is, to set a limit to our consumption. Learning to be content is learning to say no to our desire to buy the latest and greatest stuff again and to be satisfied with what we already have. God's promise from our text indicates that His presence in our lives will provide the necessary peace, security, freedom, and satisfaction.

"The one who is satisfied with the least is the richest, for contentment is the greatest treasure." Socrates, Greek sage.

CHALLENGE

Take another look at your spending. Are there any expenses that you don't actually necessarily need? Try cutting some expenses, such as subscriptions, clothing purchases or eating out. Then, put the money away to do something good for someone else. Another paradox in God's Kingdom is that the more you give, the more you get!