Few of us will ever know what it means to have more money than we can spend. Few, precious few, will ever have the ability to have all their material or personal desires fulfilled. But if we look to those rare individuals who DO have those recourses, and we examine their lives carefully, we see that it is not the ability to scratch every itch that brings fulfillment or satisfaction.
When is enough enough? At what point is the human heart satisfied? Power, ask Hitler. Money, ask Madoff, Physical pleasure, ask Hefner. These three men are the benchmark for excess, their unrestraint known by all. When is enough enough? To the unsurrendered heart…never. It is never enough.
Even the obscenely rich and powerful can be sad, lonely, unfulfilled. The truly rich are those who couple the choice to be content with what we already have with a heart that gives cheerfully, unbegrudgingly.
Without contentment, a palace can be a prison. Without restraint, a pleasure can be bondage. Without sacrificial love, relationships can become confinement.
Contentment, restraint, love, these are the building blocks of life. Contentment and restraint are partners in the dance of death. They tread to death the enemies of peace. Greed, jealousy and addiction are crushed beneath their feet. Sacrificial love plays the tune that contentment and restraint waltz to.
I want to play that song. I want to dance that dance.
1 Timothy 6:6-11 The Message . A devout life does bring wealth, but it’s the rich simplicity of being yourself before God. Since we entered the world penniless and will leave it penniless, if we have bread on the table and shoes on our feet, that’s enough. 9-10But if it’s only money these leaders are after, they’ll self-destruct in no time. Lust for money brings trouble and nothing but trouble. Going down that path, some lose their footing in the faith completely and live to regret it bitterly ever after.