"Wonder"

 There’s lots of things I think about,

They fill my mind without a doubt,

I take the contemplative route,

I sometimes really wonder.

And when I do I focus there,

To think it through because I care,

Asking questions, this I dare,

And never knuckle under,

To those who are the thought police,

Who say shut up, and give us peace,

Don’t ask and make your words decrease,

They’re something less than honest.

Folks say if you can’t understand,

Follow the cash, and what they’ve planned,

Transparency, the best demand,

But they don’t keep that promise.

The sharpest in the drawer, not me,

But even I can sometimes see,

Things that just not ought to be,

I’m given that discernment.

People ought not worship stuff,

And learn to say they have enough,

But admitting that for them is tough,

And causes their internment.

The Good Book says one cannot serve,

Both God and mammon, you will swerve,

Off course and get what you deserve,

You shouldn’t love that money.

But if you do, your treasure’s lost,

Because greed has the highest cost,

Freezes what you can’t defrost,

And far more sad than funny.

I wonder if I did without,

All the things my life’s about,

Cast aside all pride and clout,

I think that is the answer.

We are obsessed with what we own,

And when we reap the seeds we’ve sown,

We find what is already known,

That greed’s a lethal cancer.

“But people who long to be rich fall into temptation and are trapped by many foolish and harmful desires that plunge them into ruin and destruction.” (1 Timothy 6:9, NLT)

Money should be a great blessing, and there is nothing spiritual about poverty. But greed and materialism have become two of the most powerful gods in the secular pantheon of idolatry. If one’s focus is upon getting rich it becomes a life-defining priority at the expense of everything eternal. Jesus asked what a man gains if he gets the whole world and loses his soul? Paul’s counsel to Timothy was to help those with wealth to become generous stewards. Then they would be able to enjoy what they have without an argument with God about what really matters. According to Jesus it is impossible to love both God and money. it will always be one or the another.

Lord, help us love You above everything and everybody else, in Jesus’ name.

Art by Jason Rich, jasonrichstudios.com. Used by permission. Thanks, Jason, and God bless you.