Proverbs 13:7 – The leech has two daughters – Give and Give!
The more things we have, the more we can enjoy the sensations and stimulation of worldly pleasures and luxury. The problem is, there is always more pleasure, more sensation, more money and more luxury.
Like sex, drugs or adrenaline, it always takes nicer, newer and more things to satisfy that stimulation you get. Stimulation becomes addictive and boredom quickly comes home to roost when our life is filled with the wheels, thrills and deals of our modern lifestyle.
Boredom is remedied with electronic entertainment or adrenaline-producing "extreme" activities
Over-stimulation results in decreased intellect, vocabulary, abstract thinking skills and the ability to dream
An increase of stimulation is always necessary to continue getting the "satisfaction" or pleasurable feeling that is desired
Prosperity endears us to this world and makes the glory of heaven diminished
We don’t long for the better things of heaven because we have the "better" things now and not enough time to learn that heaven is actually better
We’re too busy pursuing the good earthly things to think about heaven
We are simply incapable of conceiving of the better heavenly things because we have not exercised the skill
God wants us to enjoy life. He wants us to experience the wonders of His creation. But not at the cost of our fellowship and longing for him.
We have to be careful that our prosperity doesn’t become the juice that we crave in life in the sense that it is needed to procure for us ever greater stimulation in the search for happiness based on circumstances and feelings.
Prosperity is God’s blessing to us to help us invest in the one thing that matters: relationships… through giving, investing in others and having more time for relationship. Stimulation is a cheap and short-term fix that is often facilitated by prosperity.
Don’t fall for it.
This post is excerpted from my latest book, Life Without Debt: http://www.seriousgetoutofdebt.com/xdebt/default.asp