Making The Most Of My Life: Six Ways We Waste Our Day
Part 3 of 6: Idle Watching
"The lamp of the body is the eye. If therefore your eye is good, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness!" Matthew 6:22-23 (NKJV)
Kentucky: Two men tried to pull the front off a cash machine by running a chain from the machine to the bumper of their pickup truck. Instead of pulling the front panel off the machine, though, they pulled the bumper off their truck. Scared, they left the scene and drove home. With the chain still attached to the machine. With their bumper still attached to the chain. With their vehicle’s license plate still attached to the bumper.
Indiana: A man walked up to a cashier at a grocery store and demanded all the money in the register. When the cashier handed him the loot, he fled--leaving his wallet on the counter.
The Ann Arbor News crime column reported that a man walked into a Burger King in Ypisalanti, Michigan at 7:50am, flashed a gun and demanded cash. The clerk turned him down because he said he couldn’t open the cash register without a food order. When the man ordered onion rings, the clerk said they weren’t available for breakfast. The man, frustrated, walked away.
(Location Unknown): A man walked into a Circle-K, put a $20 bill on the counter and asked for change. When the clerk opened the cash drawer, the man pulled a gun and asked for all the cash in the register, which the clerk promptly provided. The man took the cash from the clerk and fled-- leaving the $20 bill on the counter. The total amount of cash he got from the drawer? Fifteen dollars.
Burglars in Larch Barrens, Md., tried to cut through a safe using a Laser Tag gun.
When a man attempted to siphon gasoline from a motor home parked on a Seattle street, he got much more than he bargained for. Police arrived at the scene to find an ill man curled up next to a motor home near spilled sewage. A police spokesman said that the man admitted to trying to steal gasoline and plugged his hose into the motor home’s sewage tank by mistake. The owner of the vehicle declined to press charges, saying that it was the best laugh he’d ever had.
Sobering illustrations of greed leading to death.
"Leo Wilson, Jr., 16, was shot to death for his Nike sneakers and satin sports jacket, police say." Or how about this one, "Wheatley High School junior Adam Joseph Martin, 18, gave haircuts to neighborhood kids to earn enough to buy his new $125 Nike athletic shoes last week. Saturday night, staring down the barrel of a 9mm pistol on a Houston street, he handed over his prized possessions to two robbers, who fatally shot him anyway." [Darren Ethier. The Crippling Effects Of Envy. Sermoncentral.com.]
"What causes wars, and what causes fights among you? Is it not your passions that are at war in your members? You desire and do not have; so you kill. And you covet and cannot obtain; so you fight and wage war. You do not have, because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions." James 4:1-3 (RSV)
Webster’s Dictionary: Envy: "a feeling of antagonism towards someone because of some good which he is enjoying but which one does not have oneself || a coveting for oneself of the good which someone else is enjoying…"
Vine’s: "envy, is the feeling of displeasure produced by witnessing or hearing of the advantage or prosperity of others; this evil sense always attaches to this word…envy desires to deprive another of what he has"
Dr. Gary Collins (Homemade, July, 1985): To envy is to want something which belongs to another person.
In other words…ENVY is saying… "I like what you’ve got, I don’t like the fact that you have it, and I want it!!!" [Darren Ethier. The Crippling Effects Of Envy. Sermoncentral.com.]
We continue our six part series "Making The Most Of My Life: Six Ways We Waste Our Day"
1. Idle Living-following empty pursuits
2. Idle Speech-misuse of our tongue
Today: Idle Watching-wasting our time in the empty pursuit of wanting.
Can categorize this wanting under several terms:
Envy
Coveting
Lusting
Greed
"All the toil of man is for his mouth, yet his appetite is not satisfied." Ecclesiastes 6:7 (RSV)
"Sheol & Abbadon are never satisfied, and never satisfied are the eyes of man." Proverb 27:20 (RSV)
Envy is such a plague to humanity that it is ranked as one of the ‘Seven Deadly Sins’
Even the TEN COMMANDMENTS decry this vice.
"You must not be envious of your neighbor’s house, or want to sleep with his wife, or want to own his slaves, oxen, donkeys, or anything else he has." Exodus 20:17 (Living)
So pervasive is this evil, even the most upright can be toppled
What would you be willing to do for $10,000,000-00? In their book, The Day America Told the Truth, James Patterson and Peter Kim reveal some shocking statistics about how far people in this country are willing to go for ten million.
Would abandon their entire family (25%)
Would abandon their church (25%)
Would become prostitutes for a week or more (23%)
Would give up their American citizenship (16%)
Would leave their spouses (16%)
Would withhold testimony and let a murderer go free (10%)
Would kill a stranger (7%)
Would put their children up for adoption (3%)
To most of us more money looks like the solution to our problems. I bet most everyone here has said (or at least thought):
"If I could just win the lottery . . ."
"If I could just win the Publisher’s Clearinghouse Sweepstakes …"
"If I could just have a million dollars everything would be alright." [Joel Smith. Rooting Out The Love Of Money. Sermoncentral.com.]
"Those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and hurtful desires that plunges men into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is the root of all evils; it is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced their hearts with many pangs." I Timothy 6:9-10 (RSV)
Envy has a way of blinding people
Envy Blinds
1. With the Illusion of Love
"What better way to say I love you, than with a diamond ring."
Concepts of Birthdays– "What do you want?"
-reduced to an expression of desire, not a celebration of life
Love is expressed through the material, but not measured by the material.
GREEK PROVERB: "As rust corrupts iron, so envy corrupts man"
The Cold Within
Six humans trapped by happenstance
In black and bitter cold.
Each one possessed a stick of wood,
Or so the story’s told.
Their dying fire in need of logs,
The first woman held hers back
For on the faces around the fire
She noticed one was black.
The next man looking cross the way
Saw one not of his church,
And couldn’t bring himself to give
The fire his stick of birch.
The third one sat in tattered clothes
He gave his coat a hitch.
Why should his log be put to use
To warm the idle rich?
The rich man just sat back and thought
Of the wealth he had in store.
And how to keep what he had earned
From the lazy poor.
The black man’s face bespoke revenge
As the fire passed from his sight,
For all he saw in his stick of wood
Was a chance to spite the white.
And the last man of this forlorn group
Did naught except for gain.
Giving only to those who gave
Was how he played the game.
The logs held tight in death’s still hands
Was proof of human sin.
They didn’t die from the cold without,
They died from the cold within.
[Russell Brownworth. Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? Sermoncentral.com.]
2. With the Illusion of Success
"He who dies with the most toys wins."
"I have seen another evil under the sun, and it weighs heavily on men: God gives a man wealth, possessions, and honor, so that he lacks nothing his heart desires, but God does not enable him to enjoy them, and a stranger enjoys them instead. This is meaningless, a grievous evil." Ecclesiastes 6:1-2 (NIV)
"There is great gain in godliness with contentment; for we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world; but if we have food and clothing, with these we shall be content." I Timothy 6:6-8 (RSV)
3. With the Illusion of Value
"He who loves money shall never have enough. The foolishness of thinking that wealth brings happiness! The more you have, the more you spend, right up to the limits of your income, so what is the advantage of wealth– except perhaps to watch it as it runs through your fingers! The man who works hard sleeps well whether he eats little or much, but the rich must worry and suffer insomnia." Ecclesiastes 5:10-12 (Living)
"Take heed, and beware of all covetousness; for a man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions." Luke 12:15 (RSV)
THREE Sure Ways To Maintain Clarity Of Vision So As Not To Be Blinded By Greed
1. If you’re going to lust, lust for God
"But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well." Matthew 6:33 (NIV)
2. Understand what’s really important
"Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasure in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal." Matthew 6:19-20 (RSV)
You can’t take it with you. Material blessings pass away.
"He who loves money shall never have enough. The foolishness of thinking that wealth brings happiness! The more you have, the more you spend, right up to the limits of your income, so what is the advantage of wealth– except perhaps to watch it as it runs through your fingers!" Ecclesiastes 5:10-12 (Living)
3. Realize the cost
What are you willing to sacrifice for the sake of your gain?
An American businessman was at the pier of a small costal Mexican village when a small boat with just one fisherman docked. Inside the small boat were several large yellow fin tuna. The American complimented the Mexican on the quality of his fish and asked how long it took him to catch them. The Mexican replied, "Only a little while." The American then asked why he didn’t stay out and catch more fish? The Mexican said he had enough to support his family’s immediate needs. The American then asked, but what do you do with the rest of your time? The fisherman said, "I sleep late, fish a little, play with my children, take a siesta with my wife, Maria, stroll into the village each evening where I sip wine and play guitar with my amigos, I have a full and busy life, senior."
The American scoffed, "I have a Harvard MBA and I could help you. You should spend more time fishing and with the proceeds buy a bigger boat, with the proceeds from the bigger boat you could buy several boats, eventually you would have a fleet of fishing boats. Instead of selling your catch to a middleman you would sell directly to the processor, eventually opening your own cannery. You would control the product, processing and distribution. You would need to leave this small coastal fishing village and move to Mexico City, then LA and eventually NYC where you will run your expanding enterprise."
The Mexican fisherman asked, "But senior, how long will all this take?"
To which the American replied, "15 to 20 years."
"But then what, senior?"
The American laughed and said that’s the best part. "When the time is right you would announce an IPO and sell your company stock to the public and become very rich, you would make millions."
"Millions, senior? Then what?"
The American said, "Then you would retire. Move to a small coastal fishing village where you would sleep late, fish a little, play with your kids, take a siesta with your wife, stroll into the village in the evenings where you could sip wine and play your guitar with your amigos." [Joel Smith. Rooting Out The Love Of Money. Sermoncentral.com.]
Instead of asking, "How Much?" we should be asking, "To What End?"
"Cat’s In The Cradle" by Harry Chapin
A child arrived just the other day
He came to the world in the usual way
But there were planes to catch and bills to pay
He learned to walk while I was away
And he was talking ’fore I knew it and as he grew
He’d say, "I’m gonna be like you, Dad
You know I’m gonna be like you"
{Refrain with Dad}
And the cat’s in the cradle and the silver spoon
The little boy blue and the man in the moon
When you coming home, Dad
I don’t know when
But we’ll get together then
You know we’ll have a good time then
My son turned ten just the other day
He said, "Thanks for the ball, Dad, come on, let’s play
Can you teach me to throw," I said "Not today
I got a lot to do," he said "That’s okay"
And then he walked away but his smile never dimmed
And said, "I’m gonna be like him, yeah
You know I’m gonna be like him"
{Refrain with Dad}
Well, he came from college just the other day
So much like a man I just had to say
"Son, I’m proud of you, can you sit for a while"
He shook his head, and he said with a smile
‘What I’d really like, Dad, is to borrow the car keys
See you later, can I have them please"
{Refrain with Son}
...but we’ll get together then, Dad...
I’ve long since retired, my son’s moved away
I called him up just the other day
I said, "I’d like to see you if you don’t mind"
He said, "I’d love to Dad if I could find the time
You see, my new job’s a hassle and the kids have the flu
But it’s sure nice talking to you, Dad
It’s been sure nice talking to you’
And as I hung up the phone, it occurred to me
He’d grown up just like me, my boy was just like me
{Refrain with Son}
...but we’ll get together then, Dad...
"What does it profit a man [or woman] if [they] gain the whole world, but lose their life?" (Matthew 16:26, et. al.)
Closing: "Put a knife to your throat if you are a man given to appetite. " Proverb 23:2 (RSV)
