I remember a familiar “Uncle Arthur,” story about a hollow pie. Greedy for the biggest and best of everything, young Robert finally learned his lesson when, at his Aunt’s home for dinner, it came time for dessert. As usual, Robert went for the biggest and best desserts only to find great disappointment. Knowing his greedy habit, the best looking desserts had been doctored to be the worst tasting. By the end of the story, we find Robert deciding greed has its consequences.

As humans with our fallen nature, we all are naturally bent towards selfishness, which leads to greed. “Bigger,” “better,” “more,” the advertisements and books abound telling us that we can’t be content unless we have it all. I’ve bought that lie more than once, and like the hollow pie, there is always an empty disappointment down the road.

What is the cure? Well, it certainly isn’t more of the same. And it isn’t solved simply by giving everything away. Without a change of thinking we will just collect stuff again. Instead, the solution is found when we come to a place where we realize God is enough for us. The counsel in Deuteronomy 8:18 reminds us that God is responsible for all our talents, achievements, and material blessings. When we forget that, we are left with self as the reason for what we do or don’t have. This causes us to measure our worth by the world’s standards, and our motivation for doing more and getting more is so we can feel better about ourselves.

God’s desire for us is that we find our worth in Him. Throughout history Jesus has demonstrated that He wants to be our, “enough,” by the multitude of blessings He provides. Enough provision, enough protection, enough deliverance, enough mercy, enough joy, enough peace, enough hope, enough love. Jesus said, “ For God so loved the world (He sees value in us), that He gave His one and only Son (God’s provision), that whoever (that’s us) believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.” To prove what He meant, He died our unrighteous death, and His resurrection gave us His righteous life and it’s available to anyone who trusts Him as enough. May we all find our contentment in the riches of Christ, knowing He is enough for us.

-Pastor Jim