Daily Reading
Daily Thought
Everyone wanted the bigger piece of cake so mom came up with a fair system: one child cuts the cake, the other chooses the first piece. The trick was to cut the cake at a slant so one piece looks bigger, but is actually smaller. Both children sought the advantage and neither wanted mom cutting the cake because she might be fair. To be honest, neither wanted more cake–just more than the other.
Watch Congress reline the districts or nations draw up treaties. No one aims for fair and there are no straight lines. The Hatfields and McCoys keep fighting not to get even, but to get even plus a little more. “Ties,” snarls the football coach, “are like kissing your sister,” and the system favors the devils. “Nice guys finish last” is how Leo Durocher saw it.
So, nasty ones finish first? “For the wicked boasts of the desires of his soul. His ways prosper at all times” (Psalm 10:3, 5), and for a time, it seems, the wicked win. That’s our system, the system of advantage, of fair plus a little more. “The one greedy for gain curses and renounces the Lord’” (Psalm 10:3). He doesn’t want “mom” cutting the cake, and he gets the bigger piece, for awhile.
Remember when Abraham divided the land between him and his nephew Lot? He let Lot choose, “so Lot chose for himself all the Jordan Valley, and Lot journeyed east” (Genesis 13:11), toward the land of Sodom and Gomorrah. Lot chose what pleased his eyes, perhaps the bigger piece, but not the better.
Who cares about more cake! Beware greed for it will turn your eyes toward what the wicked possess and away from what the Lord provides.
“The Lord is my chosen portion and my cup; you hold my lot. The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; indeed, I have a beautiful inheritance” ~Psalm 16:5-6
Daily Prayer
My God, there is nothing in this world that satisfies me. For a brief time, I find something fun, but then I want something more or something else, and I spend my life looking. Until I found You, or I should say, You found me. I wasn’t looking for You, but when You showed up, suddenly there was peace and contentment, strength and worth, a hope and a future. Now I have nothing to gain because You are all I seek. And I have nothing to lose because You provide all I need. I have stopped looking and started living. The life You give is truly abundant and overflowing.
“You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.” ~Psalm 16:11
Amen
Daily Question
Does greed or God play a bigger role in the choices you make?