“Surely he will have no respite from his craving; he cannot save himself by his treasure. – Job 20:20

Today’s Scripture Reading (March 31, 2012): Job 20

I actually remember when the price of gasoline was less than a dollar a gallon. It was a time when saying that you were going to put in five dollars worth of gas in your car actually meant something. As a kid, I actually remember when the price of comic books went from ten cents to twelve cents. I can also remember raking leaves for a quarter and being able to buy a bag of chips and a pop with my earnings. I felt like I was independently wealthy if I actually had dollar bills in my wallet. Now, it is hard to imagine that such a time actually existed. It is beyond our imagination.

Of course, the prices of products were down, but so were wages. This is partially why saving for retirement is so hard (and very necessary.) The problem arises because we need to save for things that we will need to buy tomorrow with the money we have earned today. What it costs us to live today is just a fraction of what it will probably cost us to live when we retire. And so we begin our chase after more.

Andy Stanley says that we live in the kingdom of Er. And because Er is a comparative place, it is not a place where we will ever be satisfied. In the land of Er, our only desires are to be thinner, stronger, and richer. And because it is comparative, there is no way that we will ever arrive. So in the end, our lives just end up sadder. Our cravings just increase. We need more and really have no way to get it.

It is the mystery of economics that I don’t think we really understand. Economics are cyclic. We want to earn more money, but the prices have to be raised in order to pay for our higher wages. So we make more money and we pay more for the products we buy. None of us are really better off because of our higher wages. Our only real hope is that our wage will keep pace with inflation – inflation largely caused by our need to earn more.

It is the challenge that Zophar addresses. If we allow ourselves to be driven by greed, it is our cravings that will be our downfall in the end. We will never be able to have enough. Living in the land of Er never has a happy ending. The secret to life is being happy right where we are.  After all, we live our entire lives in the here and now.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Job 21