The Poverty of Pursuing Pleasure By Paul Chappell Friday, Jun 21, 2013 "He that loveth pleasure shall be a poor man: he that loveth wine and oil shall not be rich." Proverbs 21:17 We live in a society that is obsessed with the pursuit of pleasure. While this is not a new thing, the lengths to which it is being taken today are beyond what has been known throughout most of history. The airwaves are filled with ads which promise happiness and success for those who have more stuff than they know what to do with. These ads are used for everything from cars to toothpaste. But they—and the mindset they promote—are based on a lie. A study published in US News and Report some years ago did some digging into what people’s expectation of life really was. Rather than just asking general questions, those who conducted the study were specific about what people thought they would need to have in order to feel like they had achieved the “American Dream.” Interestingly enough, the responses were quite similar regardless of the current income the respondents had. For the average person in the study to feel like they had made it, based on their specific answers for what kinds of things they wanted, their income would need to basically double. This was true for those making $25,000 and those making $100,000. When you added up all the possessions and purchases that they felt would make them content, it was roughly twice as much money as they currently had—and that clearly isn’t attainable for most people. As those around us focus on increasing their income, to increase their ability to spend, to increase their appetite for more, they do not realize that they are chasing a circular dream that can never make them happy. No amount of money and no group of belongings can bring contentment to a heart that does not already hold it. Today’s Proverbs Precept: Because happiness can never be found in accumulating possessions, we should abandon the fruitless quest and seek God instead.
Posted on: Fri, 21 Jun 2013 15:37:27 +0000
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