Read: Isaiah 3:1-5:30, 2 Corinthians 11:1-15, Psalm 53:1-6, Proverbs 22:28-29

What sorrow for you who buy up house after house and field after field, until everyone is evicted and you live alone in the land.
(Isaiah 5:8)

Relate: $105,000. That is the annual income you do not want to reach or pass. Yes, you read that correctly. You do not want to get that rich or richer. Why? According to a published study by researchers at Purdue University, this is the dividing line. (105k in the US, 95K globally) Anyone who makes this much or more is far more likely to have a “reduced sense of life satisfaction and well being.” Even worse, as one’s income increases beyond this point, the chances of showing signs of depression increase exponentially. In other words, the more people pursue money, the more depressed they get and alone they feel. But we don’t need some study to realize that. God spoke that same truth through the prophet Isaiah more than 2500 years ago.

React: How much money do I need to be happy? The most common answer to this question tends to be something like, “Just a little bit more.” The problem is, this is a moving goal. Even if we get that “little more” we will still be wanting, “just a little bit more.” Money doesn’t satisfy. It never has. It never will. And yet, we all like fools still chase after it like trying to catch the wind. We are buying up house after house, field after field, stock after stock… and in doing so we are pushing away the very things and people that could truly make us happy. I would be much happier watching a perfect sunrise than if the cash in my wallet was doubled. I can remember back with fondness great conversations and times of fellowship. But although I know I’ve received plenty of pay raises in my life, I don’t think I’ve ever thought back on any of those with fondness. Yah, they happened. So what. I’d take another hike up to a mountaintop or an all night conversation around a campfire or sitting by the beach to any number of income increases. The sad thing is, we all tend to be more intentional in investing in work than investing in relationships. I guess we never learn.

Respond:

Dear God,
I know that loving You and loving others is far more important and rewarding than loving money and things. I know it. But even still, I so often find myself falling into the trap once again of accumulating things. Help me to keep my priorities straight. help me to keep my focus true. Don’t let me keep pushing people away in my desire for more “stuff.” Help me to truly live life rather than accumulate it.
Amen.