The most ______ time of the year

I am often surprised at how the different readings in the One Year Bible relate to one another.  As we enter what should be the "most wonderful time of the year," often it is with a sense of fear and trepidation caused by how much it is going to cost us.  It is a shame that so much of the emphasis on Christmas has become related to economics. As we watch the news, it often seems that the patriotic thing to do is to spend ourselves into oblivion in the rush up to Christmas. 


And yet the two readings that seem to correspond today--one from 1 John and the other from Proverbs 28--talk about the danger of materialism.


John puts it this way:

Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them. For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—comes not from the Father but from the world.  The world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever. --1 John 2:15-17

All of the things that we desire to consume that come from the world put us in conflict with the Father.  They distract us from setting our eyes on Jesus.


True prosperity is not measured by what we own, but rather in who we trust. As the writer of Proverbs puts it:

A greedy man stirs up dissension, but he who trusts in the Lord will prosper. --Proverbs 28:25

Certainly the economy that provides jobs and financial security for so all of us is dependent upon sales. I don't want to see anyone go without work. But neither should we chase after the false god of materialism to provide our sense of self-worth. Those things that we covet at this time of the year come not from the Father, John says, but from the world. And all of that will pass away one day.


Want to live forever? Do the will of God, John says, and seek His kingdom first. Then it will truly be the most wonderful time of the year!