灵命日粮  -  2007 年 7 月 12 日
富贵病
读经: 路加福音12章13-21节
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金句: 「你们要谨慎自守，免去一切的贪心，因为人的生命不在乎家道丰富。」(路加福音12章15节）
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全年读经: 诗篇4-6篇；使徒行传17章16-34节
  
当生活在富裕社会的人们热购黑莓手机和平面电视机时，很难否认世界许多地方的财富正在加增。你或许可以称它为「富贵病」，因为繁荣当中深藏着忧虑。撒母耳森在华盛顿邮报上撰文说﹕「这是经济性的『当代迷思』。」我在猜想这是否属实，因为我们企图在「更多物质」中寻求安全感，而一切物质财富都是靠不住的，它们能转眼即逝。
圣经称追求更多的物质财富是「贪心」。耶稣讲过一个财主的比喻，警告跟随他的人要免去一切的贪心。这个财主的问题并不在于他拥有丰富的田产，也不在于他要盖更大的仓房（路加福音 12 章 16-18 节）。问题在于他把整个一生押在财物上（15节）他将安全感建立在物质上，以致「在上帝面前却不富足」（21节）。拒绝认识上帝和他的律法，使他成为一个无知的人，他活在现在却以为自己能掌控未来（19-20节）。
「美好生活」无法建立在物质财富上。盼望我们不要把安全感建立在获取「更多财富」上，而是将我们所有的一切和生命投资在上帝的国度里，从中找到真正的满足。MW

他有世界能给的一切，
他可以达到每个目标；
但他的生命终究失丧，
因他拿灵魂换了钞票。Denison

没有目标比缺少钱财更糟糕。

                                                           
July 12, 2007
Affluenza
READ: Luke 12:13-21
Take heed and beware of covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of the things he possesses. —Luke 12:15
 
As people in affluent societies stock up on Blackberrys and flat-panel TVs, it’s hard to deny the increasing wealth in many parts of the world. You might call it “affluenza.” There is anxiety, however, amid so much prosperity. It is the economic “puzzle of our time,” said Robert J. Samuelson in The Washington Post. I wonder if this is true because we are attempting to find security in “more stuff”—stuff that is temporary and fleeting.
The Bible calls the pursuit of more stuff “greed.” Jesus warned His followers about greed by telling a story about a rich man. The problem with this rich man was not that he had an abundance of bumper crops, or that he decided to build more storage space (Luke 12:16-18). The problem was that he invested his entire life in his possessions (v.15). He drew his security from his material goods and failed to be “rich toward God” (v.21). Rejecting the knowledge and precepts of God as the basis for life made him a fool. He was living for the moment while presuming on the future (vv.19-20).
The “good life” cannot be found in things. Instead of seeking our security by acquiring “more stuff,” may we find true satisfaction by investing our resources and our lives in and for His kingdom. —Marvin Williams

He possessed all the world had to give him,
He had reached every coveted goal;
But, alas, his life was a failure,
For he had forgotten his soul. —Denison

Poverty of purpose is worse than poverty of purse.