Greed destroys the soul.

II Kings 14:10  You have indeed destroyed Edom and are very proud about it.  Be content with your victory and stay at home!  Why stir up trouble that will bring disaster on you and the people of Judah?

Amaziah was king of Judah and he had just come back from a successful military campaign in Edom.  He was feeling pretty good about himself and issued a challenge to King Jehoash of Israel.  He wanted to go to war with the Israelites, believing, I am sure, that no one could stop him.  He probably thought that this was an ideal time to reunite the tribes of Israel into one like they used to be under David and Solomon’s rule.  Scripture goes on to tell us that they did indeed go to war and that Judah was defeated by the tribes of Israel.

How many times do we get ourselves into trouble because we are not satisfied with how things are in our lives?  The soul craves for more than what we have.  Having enough is never enough.  We are driven by greed. 

Yet, we are forewarned by God over and over again that greed destroys the soul.  No matter how much or little we may have, we should be grateful for it.  There is nothing wrong with trying to improve ourselves or our lot in life, but if we do it because we are not satisfied with what God has provided, we have a problem in our soul.  Gratitude is an attitude that supersedes all circumstances.  

We should accept with gratitude whatever we have been blessed with and be willing to accept it if we never are blessed with more.  There will never be enough of more if we are not grateful for what we do have.  There will never be peace with God if we are always bent on getting more. 

We don’t know how having more may affect our souls.  It may very well be disastrous for us, causing us to lose our connection with God.   Blessed is he who knows how to be grateful each day for what the Lord provides and is satisfied with it.  Blessed is he who wisely lets the Lord have ownership of what he has and uses it for His good purposes.