Heaping vanity upon vanity…

That’s what we do in the west. Life to most Americans equals living from moment to moment, tangible experience to tangible experience, all the while striving to feel more, to sense and taste and touch more. Our whole lives revolve around the physical world. But we were not only made for the physical. We were made as spiritual beings and cannot be satisfied with the flesh. It is impossible to be happy with things.

Of course I’m not saying anything new. Wise men and sages from times long past have said and re-said the same thing. It has been written in chronicles of ancient history, passed down from song and story and is even written on the human heart. The idea that the American dream proposes is, to say it bluntly, anti-God. The accumulation of wealth and riches is idolatry at its highest and most despicable form. There is no spiritual freedom in the American way of life because our so called “freedoms” are nothing more than sensual addictions.

The highest form of freedom in the kingdom of God is not in possessing but in poverty of spirit. Voluntary giving is the way of God. The idea that America is a Christian nation, to me, is confusing. We are so much more cultural than we are kingdom. I feel as if God’s mercy is upon us as we struggle through this recession. God is touching the wealth of this nation to reveal where our heart really lies. Can we be unoffended, knowing that He is sovereign and that in His sovereignty He is allowing the economy to be troubled?? Instead of reasoning and warring for our way of life to continue as it is, why don’t we submit to the troubles and change how we spend our time and money?