Satisfried Series

Satisfried.

Hi, My name is Rick and I’m addicted to money.

[This is where you say, “Hi Rick” thus acknowledging that you are part of the same American consumer culture that I am.]

We live in a world that is designed by people who want you and me to spend money in the vain attempt to find satisfaction. They do their very best to convince me that my only hope for validation as a person, vindication for existence, and for ultimate satisfaction in life is to make sure that I have the right stuff, take the right vacations, drive the right vehicles, and live in the right house on the right side of town. According to all of these people who surround me with their messages of hope my satisfaction in life depends on how much I have and how well I spend my money.

Recently Burger King has advanced this goal another step by introducing a new product – Satisfries!

With 40% less fat and 30% less calories than McDonalds fries, Burger King is enticing me to believe and to buy their new fries. According to the BK people if I eat their new fries my weight will drop, my skin will clear up, my driving abilities will be enhanced, my marriage will sparkle, I’ll preach better sermons and I will be satisfried!

NOT… It is all an empty promise… Just like all the other advertising, consumer oriented deceptions that you and I are bombarded with every day and all day long.

Most of these promises are focused, in one way or another, on money. Burger King has cooked crinkle cut potatoes in hot fat that they want to sell to us for money. GM has engineered and built a people moving machine called a Cadillac so they can sell it to you for money. Walmart, Meijers, Best Buy, and Kohl’s have built huge cathedrals of merchandise to get you to come and spend money to get things which they do their very best to convince you that you need and will satisfy you.

This is a powerful promise. It is powerful because in the end, after our lives have been completed, more than anything else we all want to be satisfied. All of us have a deep desire to know that our lives have been purposeful and meaningful. We want to know that, even though there have been tough times and hard work, it has been worth it all. We want to know that as we look towards eternity that we have done well with what we have been given.

At the end of the day we want to be satisfied and most of have been convinced that somehow money is the answer.

Today I will expose three lies that sound true and three truths that sound false. The three lies are about money. Two of the truths are about God. The last truth is about you.

Are you ready? Here we go…

Lie #1: Money Satisfies

The idea that money can satisfy your soul and bring you comfort to your heart is a lie that sounds true. On top of that lie is another… If you aren’t comfortable and satisfied in life then you just need more money.

Solomon, who just happened to be one of the wealthiest men in all of history – including modern times – has something to say from a position of knowledge about this lie. Here is the word of Solomon concerning money:

10 He who loves money will not be satisfied with money, nor he who loves wealth with his income; this also is vanity. 11 When goods increase, they increase who eat them, and what advantage has their owner but to see them with his eyes?

Ecc 5:10-11

Solomon calls it vanity. The Hebrew word literally means “breath.” Breath is something that has no definite substance and is elusive. It’s here… and then it’s gone.

It’s a little like what happens when you toss boiling water into the air on a “below zero” day. Have you seen this done? The pan of boiling liquid is flies up and then… poof… it’s gone in cloud of cold vapor.

The love of money doesn’t satisfy your soul because money has a way of simply going poof and disappearing. Money simply doesn’t have the ability to sustain your soul.

In fact, according to Solomon, when you have money two things happen. First, your expenses increase and second, so do the number of people who come to eat from your table.

When goods increase those who consume them increase as well and you get to watch your stuff get eaten up by others.

In the end having a lot of money just makes you want to make more. It’s like drinking saltwater. It doesn’t quench your thirst. It just makes the craving stonger.