What do you need to be happy?
The American way of life pushes people to constantly strive for more – more money, more stuff, more clout. We want our paychecks to be bigger and our bank accounts to grow. We have saving goals, Amazon wishlists and Pinterest dream boards where we hoard the things we want.
Our desire for more isn’t limited to material possessions. We are looking for the next promotion and looking for a path to prominence and leadership. We worry about where we’ll be in the next five years. We worry about not being successful enough. We want more responsibilities. We want more people to look up to us. We want more. We want more.
When will we have enough?
Author and pastor Will Davis Jr. explores our constant desire for more in his new book, . He sees the pursuit of excess as problematic personally, but also because Christ saw it as problematic.
“There is a lot of petitioning in Scripture that says, ‘If you’re going to pursue Christ passionately, jettison your cargo.’ Live light and live lean. Because if you’re trying to consume and follow Christ at the same time, one will choke out the other.”
Never having enough gives us a sense of entitlement, self importance and independence. We think to ourselves, if we only have (blank) we will be secure and safe. Having more than enough puts God on the ‘call you when I need you’ channel.
When we never have enough, we’re also believing a lie. Stuff, power or position, none of it satisfies. There’s a reason it doesn’t. None of it was meant to satisfy.
“It’s the ultimate mistake to think that I can somehow satisfy the needs of an eternally made, fearfully and wonderfully made soul by throwing stuff at it.”
Key Scriptures: 2 Corinthians 5:7, Philippians 4:12
