GREED VS. NEED!

 

 

Luke 12:15 - "And he said unto them, "Take heed; and beware of covetousness: for a man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth".

Luke 12: 16b-21 - "The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully: And he thought within himself, saying, What shall I do, because I have no room where to bestow my fruits? And he said, This will I do: I will pull down my barns, and build greater; and there will I bestow all my fruits and my goods. And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou has much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry. But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee; then whose shall those things be which thou hast provided? So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.          

Greed - A strong desire of acquiring or possessing. Need - A lack of something

In the above text, we are told a parable by Jesus of a man who had plenty. We could label him as having a spirit of Greed. He was not satisfied with just a little, but more. He had so much that he told himself he to make room for his overage. So, he built bigger barns to stockpile what he possessed. He could have divided and distributed his abundance to those in need. With all what his greed had brought to him, what would become of it after he died? It seems today that if you are not on the Top 10 list of having the best job, car, house, materialistic things, money, etc., you are looked down at. Just because someone has a lot of these things doesn't mean they are happy and fulfilled. If they have all these worldly goods and don't God and His peace within them, they are most miserable and needy.

With God, we can have Everything! Without God, we have Nothing! I choose to be in need of God and have Him than being greedy of things that doesn't bring me happiness or contentment. There is an old cliche' that says, "Don't let you eyes be bigger than your stomach". This simply means, just because you see it, doesn't mean you really need it. This is not just for food intake but other things in life as well. It is so important that we do not allow greed to overtake us when God blesses us abundantly. There are those who are among us whose eyes are full of greed, wanting more yet not satisfied unless they have the biggest and the best that life has to offer. Even after obtaining them, some are still unsatisfied until they receive more. As God provides and supplies our needs, let us always remember from whom our blessings flow and not allow the enemy to make our eyes began to have greed and lose it all. We have been blessed in America far beyond any other country in the world, yet some are still unthankful. Don't allow Greed to cause us to suffer Need!