What would you do in exchange for ten million dollars?  Well, in the book The Day America Told the Truth a survey asked that question and revealed the answers. Apparently 25% would abandon their family or their church. 23% would become a prostitute for a week. 16% would give up their American citizenship or leave their spouse. Amazingly, a good two thirds of those polled would agree to do something on that list.

You talk about greed! Consider John D. Rockefeller.

At the peak of his career, he owned 90% of all the oil and gas industry in this country. His net worth was approximately 1% of the entire US economy. When asked how much money is enough, he answered “Just a little more!”

Unfortunately, Rockefeller’s attitude too often reflects the hearts of folks up and down the economic scale. No matter how much we have, more seems better.

Jesus addressed that issue in Luke 12:15 when he said, “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed, life does not consist in an abundance of possessions.”

Too often our self-esteem gets wrapped up in the quantity and quality of our “stuff.” It is almost as if when you have little, you are little. If you have a lot, you are a lot. But we all know that just isn’t true. Building bigger barns to contain the overflow of our possessions is the wrong concept.

Contentment is the goal.

Paul tells us in Philippians 4:12 that he learned how to be content. It is a process, not a one-time decision. It is a thousand little moments when we tell ourselves, “Nope, I do not need that. I have enough. In fact, I have enough coffee at home, Starbucks doesn’t need my contributions. I have a nice enough car. Our home is lovely, it doesn’t need to be bigger. Our last road trip with the kids was a blast, we don’t need to tour the rain forest every summer.” And on it goes.

With contentment as the goal, this week might be the perfect time to answer this personal question: so how are you guarding against “all kinds of greed?”