Turkish coffee is devoid of any filtration. Turbinado sugar, cardamom, and espresso are stirred directly into boiling water, poured into a cup, and drank. A pot of Turkish coffee yields two cups of two ounces each. Delightful!
I was enjoying my first cup when the thought raced through my mind, "You better drink it quickly so you can drink the next cup. It will cool down quickly and you might miss enjoying the second cup like you are now." That is the mindset of scarcity. If happiness is about getting what we want, we will be unhappy the majority of time.
One cannot enjoy the present blessing when the emphasis is what I will not have rather than what I now have. That is why God tells us to "Make thankfulness your sacrifice to God." Look beyond self-interest and let God know how grateful you are for what you now have; what God has blessed you with in the moment.
An alternative to gratitude is to covet. More than merely desire, a person who covets has a longing so strong it exceeds normal desire. Such strong feelings can, indeed often do, override common sense. Nothing else matters at the peak of coveting. The picture of Gollum in J.R.R. Tolkien's "Lord of the Rings" is an apt picture of the deplorable state coveting can lead to.
God weeps at the distorted human existence coveting brings. Consequently he said, "You must not covet your neighbor's...anything." Our neighbor is more than the person living next door. It is anyone who has more than we do or something we do not have. When we covet we tell God we are not satisfied and he is failing to love us properly when He does not satisfy our desires. We fail to remember, "life is more than food, and the body more than clothing."
Another alternative is pride. Pride leads to a sense of superiority in one or more areas of life. I am reminded of the story Jesus told about a religious leader who stood up and said, "God, I thank you that I am not like other men." Jesus was not impressed. He encouraged people to choose their attitudes and actions wisely when he said, "everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted."
Sometimes we give to get. We give good things such as food to feed the hungry or time to participate in local school adopter programs. We invest sweat equity to pick up trash or participate in some other way through our civic club or church. God is interested in actions, however, only as far as they indicate a giving of self to God in response to His many blessings.
Randy Frazee, writing in the Believe study Bible, said, "too often the Israelites offered sacrifices but then lived however they wanted, with no sincere thanksgiving behind their actions. They were just going through the motions -- like a person today who goes to church on Sunday and then ignores God's commands for living on the other six days of the week." This is the appropriate season to ask, "Does this describe me?"
God commands people to give. Their gifts please him, but he desires wholehearted obedience in every aspect of life most. Over the course of time it will make our lives most pleasing, not only to God, but also to us.
A grateful heart leads to thankful words for what God, in His great love and wisdom, has placed into my hands. There is nothing wrong in expressing desires to God. In fact, He expects it. Trust, love, and faith lead to gratitude and thanksgiving both before and after said requests. What is the healthy middle between coveting, I want what you have, and pride, I am better than you? Gratitude!
-- Dr. Randy Rowlan is pastor of First United Methodist Church. Comments are welcomed at [email protected]. The opinions expressed are those of the author.
Religion on 11/23/2016