Mar
8
2013
Wanting and Waiting
Posted in Christian Worldview 1 Comment
I read something that I have been tumbling in my mind.
The first advertisement for a credit card in the UK had an interesting slogan.
It read: Takes the Waiting out of Wanting.
Our country is drowning in debt.
We manage our personal checkbooks with care.
What if we managed our household budget the way the government manages its budget?
Entitlements…special interest groups…everyone wants everything now!
What is so terrible about waiting?
Remember wanting something so much that you saved your money in order to buy it?
You usually put your money in a tin, or a box, or another hiding place.
You waited until you had enough…counting it often, to make sure it was all there.
The feeling of pride…walking into the store, with your own money…to make the purchase.
Those were the purchases that meant something.
You invested so much of yourself in the acquisition.
You took better care of it…you put it away in a special place.
It was yours…you saved your money…you earned it.
Wanting…Waiting…Fulfillment.
We all know what happens when a little child gets everything he or she wants.
There is no waiting…just immediate gratification.
After a while, the thing that was so important, gets tossed aside like everything else.
The child didn’t earn it…the child didn’t work for it.
Wanting…NO waiting…Indifference.
I notice something more and more as I observe our culture.
There is a sense of entitlement.
Why shouldn’t I have what I want when I want it?
I will worry about paying for it later.
New debt is piled on top of existing debt.
Families and individuals have a difficult time climbing out of this cavernous situation.
Years ago, when I taught Sunday school, I taught alongside a man from our church.
He was a very large man whose presence commanded the room.
In actuality, he was a gentle giant.
He would always give the children different scenarios at the end of class.
He would always explain them Biblically.
One scenario I have never forgotten.
What if you won thousands of dollars…but you gambled in order to win it?
You gave most of your winnings to the church? Is that OK?
Most of the children thought it was just fine.
Giving it to the church somehow redeemed how they got the money in the first place.
They had ideas about short cuts…about the ends justifying the means.
He sat back in the chair, crossed his arms over his chest.
In a booming voice, he said…Absolutely not…the money was ILL-GOTTEN GAIN!
He told the children what God’s Word said in the book of Proverbs:
Ill-gotten treasures are of no value…dishonest money dwindles away, but he who gathers money little by little makes it grow. Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life. (Proverbs 10:2; 13:11,12)
The children looked at him wide eyed as he taught a Biblical economic lesson.
God wants your pure heart…not your large offering.
Debt is dishonest. You are buying something you want with money you don’t have.
The children left the class and the gentle giant looked somber.
They don’t get it!
We have to pray because they just don’t get it!
That was at least fifteen years ago.
The gentle giant has since gone home to be with the Lord.
His booming voice, still clear in my head: ILL-GOTTEN GAIN…They don’t get it!
The amount of debt our country has amassed is immoral.
The credit card slogan is ringing true…Takes the waiting out of wanting.
That is a terrible way to live your life.
That is a terrible way to run a country.
The child who gets everything he or she wants…right away…feels entitled to more.
Things gets tossed aside for newer and better things.
What was wanted so badly loses its appeal after a while.
There is something about the effort…the sweat equity…the hope that is deferred for a time.
A longing fulfilled is a tree of life!
Instant gratification has no period of longing.
There is no looking forward…no anticipation…no dreaming.
When things are easily acquired, the result tends to be boredom…apathy.
The gentle giant was right.
They don’t get it!
Except this time those words refer to more than just a Sunday school class.
Entitlement has become a way of life.
To what are we entitled?
Death…separation from God.
That is what we deserve.
For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
(Romans 6:23)
Our Gentle Giant hung on a cross.
He endured the suffering and the shame that was ours.
The people who lived before Jesus was born, waited and wanted Messiah to come.
He came…Jesus came.
For those that were waiting, their longing was fulfilled.
We wait and we want Jesus to come back.
One day…He will.
No instant gratification.
The magnificence of His Glorious Appearing will be well worth the wait.
The Lord is not slow in keeping His promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.
(2 Peter 3:9)
Oh, Gina I readily recognize our friend Bill. Frank and I are both looking forward to seeing him again. He will look at us and say, “hello” in that booming voice.