Everyday I face choices -- very practical choices to do with money. And sometimes I feel compelled to stop and ask myself how me-centered my choices have become. How much do my choices regarding money revolve around me? The alternative, of course, is that they ought to revolve around the Lord of my life, Jesus Christ.
But I feel like the commercial culture in which I'm immersed is constantly wooing me, wanting me to fix my mind on the things of this world. Electronics and entertainment -- recreation and recliners -- CDs and Starbucks. These are all good things that are okay to enjoy. But it can all begin to feel so important that I'd greatly resent it if some young rabbi told me to "Go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow Me." (Matthew 19:21). That's the trouble. When it comes to choosing, all our stuff and our pursuits have the potential to end up feeling far more attractive than Jesus.
St. Augustine once said of Jesus: "He loves You too little who loves anything together with You, which he loves not for your sake."
I also appreciate how John Piper puts it in the following video. Amidst the daily doses of commercialism thrust upon me wherever I turn, I'd do well to routinely set aside 3 minutes or so to watch this video every once in awhile.
© 2009 by Ken Peters
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