does greed propel your life?
Now I look at this and wonder what propelled someone to kill his own grandma for some money??? What greed?? What motive would make you just slay a woman who had nothing but your best interests at heart?
Has the world really gone this mad? Greed can destroy so many things. Look at having affairs...it can kill a relationship. The greed of wanting more than one is entitled to ruins more than just the two people involved. Greed that motivates one to be first in line at the store, first in line on the freeways, first through an intersection can cause a serious, if not fatal, accident. Greed can rob a person of dignity, of self worth...of a reason to continue on in life.
A man lost his job due to the greed of his employer. He was told to go home, that his day had been cancelled due to an unfortunate delay on the other end of his driving job. Ok, he thought, the day off! So he left his very early morning job, came home and popped back a couple of cold brewskies while he played poker on the internet. Several hours later his employer called him back. "Hey, I have this other driving run you can do instead. Show up in an hour!" With no chance to really argue, he went back to work...where he was caught with alcohol on his breath (through a breath check that all drivers can be subjected to on a random basis) and subsequently, lost his job. Boom! Fired! and he thought he just had the day off. All because his employer decided to have more from his employee than he had originally been told he could have. Greed lost the driver his job, an employer a good and reliable employee, a family of their subsistence...and on it goes.
Greed. It is probably one of the worst of the Seven Deadly Sins. It can radically change so much in our lives and in the world. Look back through history of dictators who wanted it all. Of the many who died as a result of it.
This was in my inspirational e-mail today and I want to share it with you. It sure hit me like a lead weight!
"God says: Sometimes you care too much, and other times you don’t care at all. Even in the same breath, sometimes the opposite occurs.
Perhaps you haven’t seen an old
friend in twenty years, and then you get together, and you wonder why it
mattered so to you. You are in one place, and the other person is in
another. Nostalgia isn’t so wonderful, after all. Old times are not so
wonderful after all.
Eagerness often is disappointed.
Part of life seems to be disillusion, and you do not do well with
disillusion, and yet you live on illusion. You don’t want to push
illusion away. It may be that some day your prince will come, even as
you see that as unlikely. There have been a few times when you thought
your prince had come, and he had not. Life did not uphold your illusion.
All you have, My beloveds, is the
fulsome moment of right now, this moment, here and now. At this moment,
We sit together. When We speak about what was and what is, We are
current. There is something wonderful that runs between Us. It is a
settling down at the same time as it is an enlivenment.
Let’s face it. It’s wonderful
when We meet each other. Every time it is wonderful. Life may disappoint
you, yet, when We are knee to knee, there is no disillusionment. All We
want is to sit together. At these times you are content. You are not
asking for anything. You are not expecting a Golden Chariot to descend.
It is enough that We look into each other’s eyes. It is all you could
ever want. The baubles of the world disappoint. My Presence fills you"....
It is so true. All that we have is the right now! So why worry about tomorrow? Why not be grateful that you have ENOUGH? Why do we crave MORE....and MORE...and even MORE? It isn't enough to have a house...it has to be a BIG house! or a car...it needs to be a LUXURY car. Never mind that all cars have four wheels and an engine...it also has to LOOK GOOD! I could go on, but you see the point. Why an expensive restaurant when a sandwich at the nearest deli will suffice? Do you see my point?
It is true...ILLUSIONS. We THINK if we have the latest gadget, we will be happy. But are we?? We always seek MORE. Maybe today, be happy with less. Be happy with WHAT YOU ALREADY HAVE!!!! Br grateful for what you have been given. Be humble with what you may receive in the future. But mostly, give thanks for the fact that you have a brand new day. Just be happy!
This is why we have wars, we have hunger and we have so much pain in the world. Others wanting more than they really need.
ReplyDeleteSaw this and want to share: There is a legend about a wise man who was sitting outside his village. A traveler came up and asked him, “What kind of people live in this village, because I am looking to move from my present one?” The wise man asked, “What kind of people live where you want to move from?” The man said, “They are mean, cruel, rude.” The wise man replied, “The same kind of people live in this village too.” After some time another traveler came by and asked the same question and the wise man asked him, “What kind of people live where you want to move from?” And the traveler replied, “The people are very kind, courteous, polite and good.” The wise man said, “You will find the same kind of people here too.”
ReplyDeleteWhat is the moral of the story?
Generally we see the world not the way it is but the way we are. Most of the time, other people’s behavior is a reaction to our own.
a prayer for all who need this today! :Our Father,
ReplyDeleteThere are so many who are so tired and weary that are praying with us. They are weary from lack of physical sleep and weary from the toll of a heavy heart. Many are dealing with battles on every front…family members who are terminally ill… dealing with their own health problems…children who are ill and must be taken care of…. working long hours trying to make ends meet…. trying unsuccessfully to find work and wondering how to avoid homelessness and going hungry…dealing with difficult people who drain the life and energy from them…grieving the losses of loved ones…
Lord, when we are physically, mentally and emotionally depleted, we wonder how to carry on. We cry out to you and we know you hear our cries. We know you see the pain. We know you have the answers and provision for every need. You tell us to glorify you in all things, but we don’t even know how to do that from these places of weariness and fatigue, Lord.
Father in our poverty, may we find contentment, as the apostle Paul learned to be content in all things. May we honor you by being patient in adversity. May we make the most of our waiting time in the dark valleys by redeeming the time and meeting you in prayer and the study of your word.
We may not have much to give at times, but like the widow that gave all she had with her 2 mites, you are just looking for people to come to you just as they are, with the little they have, so you can be magnified in their weakness and weariness. You are looking for the weary and downtrodden who persevere and who cling to you with their last breath and their last drops of energy and just like you took a few fish and few loaves of bread…you will take what little we have and turn it into more than enough.
Lord, there is a purpose for all we endure. The enemy has a plan to destroy and to defeat us, but you have a plan to redeem each trial, each heartache, each pain that comes into our life. Lord, we ask for all that are battle weary today…may they find rest in you. May we find that place where we can just drown out the cares of the world and find quiet solitude in your arms our, Abba Father. May we find refreshment for our weariness. May we find physical, emotional and mental replenishment. Whisper in our ears that everything will be okay and reassure us that we are not alone. May we find hope and healing in the name of Jesus. May we feel the Holy Spirit’s presence, giving us comfort and may our testimony when we rise from these places of weariness be you truly are enough…You are the giver of life and the One who gives rest to the weary…You are the one who restores our souls and you are the lifter of our heads.
Lord, may your grace be sufficient for us. Blessed be your name Lord. In the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit we pray, Amen.
Oh well, the All mighty dollar has spoken. And a few of us lost. Or have we?
ReplyDeleterob!!!!! ROB!!!! OMG! hey...was it YOU who lost your job? Oh well. Life happens. Suck it up, lil brother....you are strong...you can move mountains! You have seen worse, I read your book, I know you have. Face it. Life has no guarantees, except that you will die. So..make the best of it while you're here. You sure helped me out. You helped so many when they needed it. Now...it's ROB'S TURN! and to that, I salute you!
ReplyDeleteOh, Andy, I wish you were still with us! Thank You.
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