Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.” – Hebrews 13:5

Today’s Scripture Reading (February 28, 2015): Hebrews 13

Franz Kafka once wrote that “the Fathers of the Church were not afraid to go out into the desert because they had a richness in their hearts.  But, we, with richness all around us, are afraid, because the desert is in our hearts.” It is something that we may not want to contemplate for too long for fear that we will sense the truth. The disease that we fight against in our culture is definitely not the desert that exists outside of our doors. The disease that limits us is the desert that exists inside of us. We have learned to depend on things that are ultimately undependable. We are building a house on shifting sand. Because if there is one thing that I am sure of it is this – we will never be content with what we have.

I often tell a story about a good friend who a number of years ago came to me trying to deal with his finances. At the time he was young and starting out in his business, and he was not making as much money as he thought that he should have been. His take home amounted to about $24,000 a year, but he was making it - barely. And as we sat and talked about his financial situation he told me that he could do everything that he wanted to do if he just had $1,000 more. A couple of years passed, he changed jobs for an opportunity that was more lucrative. And in the job change he more than doubled his salary. Now he was making $60,000 a year, and he told me in a real honest moment that he could make everything balance if he just had $1,000 more. Today, he is fairly successful. His income has reached six figures, but I know when I talk with him that he still hasn’t found the $1,000 more that he needs to make everything work. And what is really scary is that I know that even with the money is making now, he is struggling to find a way to put money aside for retirement. All he needs is just a little more.

But I have also heard stories of successful business people that are making significantly more, sometimes into the seven figure range, who have limited their personal income, the amount of money that they have to live on, to less than what my friend makes. They have discovered the secret of being content, and they know that if they allow themselves to, they will consume all of the wealth they are able to create.

The secret of dealing with the desert is being content with what we have – and in recognizing that, as Christians, we have a wealth within us that is simply without measure. And when that richness resides within us, the desert on the outside holds no power over us. But, as Kafka alludes to, if the desert is inside of us, there is nothing that we can consume that is able to quench that kind of thirst. 

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: 2 Timothy 1