Do Not Let Materialism Overtake Spirituality

Our world is the only place in the LORD’s creation where Materialism and Spiritualism coexist. Our journey in this world is to come to an understanding that Spirituality matters more than Materialism. This is simple to say but very difficult to live out. The disciples who went into Galilee to spread the love and grace of Jesus Christ were learning about their spiritual connection to the LORD God.

Materialism has pushed many people away from faith and dependency on the LORD and onto the federal government. One can say that the Federal government of the United States is now considered a god. Why would I say this? Because God is defined as the all-powerful force that provides for peoples’ needs. Is that not what the Federal government does now? Yes, for many people, it does.

In an ideal world, only Spirituality would exist. Oh yes, that world does exist. We call it Heaven. Since we live in a dual world, Materialism is a significant part of it. We must learn how to live in this material and spiritual world at the same time. Jesus’ warning to us is that we must not allow Materialism to be our number one driving force in the world.

But Materialism is very difficult to let go of. Even monks living in a convent need to generate some income to repair their homes and feed themselves. Every one of us either works at a job or has had a job. Why do or did you have a job? You needed to generate income to purchase food and shelter. President Ronald Reagan said once that there is no free lunch. This world requires Materialism. You cannot get around it.

Also, there is no fairness to Materialism. People have different levels of income when working and when retired. If each of us held up a card with your family income on it, we would see many different numbers. That is just the way it is. The same thing was happening in Jesus’ day. Remember in the Scripture Jesus told His disciples to stay at the first home that welcomed them. Why did he say that to them? The answer is that there are nice houses, moderate houses, and dilapidated homes in any town or city. To teach His disciples to let go of their Materialism, He told them not to look for the fanciest house. By looking for the fanciest house, they would be thinking about material needs and not spiritual needs. Jesus knew that they had to let go of material needs to spread the Spirituality of God’s love and grace.

A lesson that Jesus offers us today is to avoid the trap of Materialism. It is so easy to fall into it. Coming to know Jesus and His spiritual ways is more important than the Materialism of the world. The writings of the Bible are there to help teach us the ways of God.

What motivates you today? In other words, are you desiring to increase your Spirituality or your material possessions? You have to have shelter and food. No questions asked. Is your desire at this point in your life to learn more about the ways of God or to collect more material stuff?

The bottom line is that a person has to balance the two. The reality of life is that eventually, each of us will die. When that day comes, and you are standing before God with Jesus at your side, will you be able to tell God that your spiritual life was more important to you than your material life? Be aware that telling God that you had a very fancy leather-bound, expensive Bible that collected a lot of dust on a shelf will not score treasures in Heaven. Being able to tell God that your Bible is frayed because you read it every day will score the treasures in Heaven.