I’ve seen this time and again. Too much of almost anything is not good. We know it’s true with food. We (US) have an abundance of food and choices beyond belief, but we have never been less healthy. We are killing our loved ones with kindness as we indulge them with too much. They don’t have to do anything like exercise, mow the yard, or help clean the house to get extra special treats, all they need to do is ask!
It’s not just in food. We want them to have a better life than we had and the more we give, the less they will work for what they want or need. They begin to take our generosity for granted and they see it as our obligation. If we continue to spoil them, it will only get worse.
Have you noticed that great men don’t usually produce great children? Great men struggle through hardship and adversity, and it was that experience which made them great. They want their children to have it easy, along with all the good things money can buy and the more they give them, the less likely the children will amount to anything.
Soloman says, “give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with food convenient for me: Lest I be full, and deny thee, and say, Who is the Lord? or lest I be poor, and steal, and take the name of my God in vain” (Prov 30:8-9 KJV). We know Solomon wasn’t poor, but riches and indulgence eventually pulled him away from the LORD. That should be a warning to us!
I know a young man who some might consider as having less, but he has more. His dad taught him to work and though he was well fed, he often had to work for what others were given. When it came time to get a car, he saved his money and bought one he could afford. When his car broke down, he went without. Should I pity him? No, I admire the fine young man he has become. His dad did what he was supposed to do to “Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it” (Prov 22:6 KJV). He is still working on the “old” part, but a great foundation has been laid and whatever is bult on it will stand.
One thing you can’t get too much of is JESUS! Yes, HE is “exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think” but even that is “according to the power that works in us.” He will make it work, so don’t hold back! We marvel at what JESUS did, but He said “He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father. And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.” You don’t even have to worry about getting full of yourself, because it’s done to glorify GOD and in the name of JESUS!
What’s the bottom line? Jesus said, “My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness” (2 Cor 12:9 KJV), so I need more JESUS and less of me!
Wayne Lance – That’s Good News to Share!