My Toys are Better - Day 264 Month 9-20 Week 36-5

Today's Reading (Bible in 1 year)

2 Kings 20:1-21:18, Ecclesiastes 4, Daniel 4:4-18, Philippians 1:1-20

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2%20Kings%2020%3A1-21%3A18%2C%20Ecclesiastes%204%2C%20Daniel%204%3A4-18%2C%20Philippians%201%3A1-20&version=NASB1995


My Toys are Better


My neighbour has a side by side ATV and many of the people I know also have a side by side.  I sure would like to have a side by side ATV.  My boss has a late model corvette and so does someone who lives just a half kilometer from my home.  I’d really like to have a Corvette.  Even better, a McLaren GTS.  If I get a better job, work lots of overtime and make lots of money, I can get a better side by side than my neighbour and a better sports car than my bosses Corvette.  My neighbours and my boss will be so envious.


Ecclesiastes 4:4 says, “I have seen that every labor and every skill which is done is the result of rivalry between a man and his neighbour.  This too is vanity and striving after wind.”  


You can labour and toil, working 16 hours a day, sleeping, and then going back to 16 hours of work the next day.  The circle continues.  The money earned gets you stuff but then you go back to work because now you need more stuff because your neighbour or boss got more stuff.  After you have all of the stuff, what do you really have?  Eventually all the stuff goes to ruin and, to be really depressing, you eventually cannot enjoy the toys anymore.  Then you die.


That all sounds kind of pointless, or shall we say it sounds like vanity and chasing after the wind!


But let's look at the way of life Jesus showed us.  Jesus didn't accumulate possessions as His goal.  He said, ‘The foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head’ (Matthew 8:20).  


Back in January, we read the Sermon on the Mount and the Beatitudes.  Jesus described blessing in ways that had nothing to do with possessions, wealth or status.  Do you remember?  Here are a few.


  • Blessed are the gentle, for they shall inherit the earth.

  • Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.

  • Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.


Imagine the world right now if everyone was a peacemaker.


These aren't things we acquire through money or hard work.  They describe a different kind of life.  In fact Jesus told us that our lives should centre around other things.  He said “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind” and “Love your neighbour as yourself” (Matthew 22:37, 39).


So the next time I see my neighbour's side by side, I have a choice.  I can wish I had a better one, or I can celebrate that he has something he enjoys.  When I see my boss's Corvette, I can be envious, or I can appreciate the car and enjoy the conversation.  My neighbour doesn't need to lose his ATV for me to be content.  My boss doesn't need to trade his Corvette for me to be happy.  Their toys don't take anything away from me.  They only become a problem when I allow comparison and envy to take control of my heart.


Maybe the better toy isn't the one sitting in my driveway.  Maybe it's a heart that can appreciate what someone else has without wishing it were mine.


Have a great day!

Steve

steve.d.pauls@gmail.com


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