Where Is Your Focus?
The Way Church
Pastor David S. Wilson
The Most Toys?
The world teaches this--You can never have too much of a good thing! We must always have enough or we are being somehow cheated of that which we truly deserve. If one were to ever wonder why we live in such a greedy world, this tenet, no doubt, ought to dispel that amazement. Love may make the world “go round” but it is amassing plenty and having a good time that gives it some speed. And, if you want to stay on for the ride, you need to be able to compete with those who are clinging on with the getting and the enjoying. Dying with the most toys is really what it is all about; isn’t it? Christopher Winans, in his book, Malcolm Forbes: The Man Who Had Everything, tells of a motorcycle tour that Forbes took through Egypt in 1984 with his Capitalist Tool motorcycle team. After viewing the staggering burial tomb of King Tut, Forbes seemed to be in a reflective mood. As they were returning to the hotel in a shuttle bus, Forbes turned to one of his associates and asked with all sincerity: “Do you think I’ll be remembered after I die?” Forbes is remembered. He is remembered as the man who coined the phrase, “He who dies with the most toys wins.” That was the wisdom of Malcolm Forbes. In fact, that was his ambition. That’s why he collected scores of motorcycles. That’s why he would pay over a million dollars for a Faberge egg. That’s why he owned castles, hot air balloons and countless other toys that he can no longer access. The Lord Jesus Christ gave us words of superior wisdom when he said, “What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul?” (Matthew 16:26). It is a fatally deficient wisdom that declares “He who dies with the most toys wins.”(Steve Farrar, Family Survival in the American Jungle,1991, Multnomah Press, pp. 47-48.) Dying with the most toys may sound cute. But we need to understand that, as in the case of Forbes, it is something that is achievable. Without a doubt he probably did succeed in achieving his goal. Unfortunately for Forbes, motorcycles, hot air balloons and Fabrege eggs provide little comfort once we leave this spinning globe. It keeps turning without us and our toys are nothing more than forgettable things that eventually spin into oblivion, our name and memory hardly connected with them any more. It would be far more blessed to die with the most debt than the most toys; when that debt was earned doing good things for others. Toys stay here forever, our deeds travel with us.
1. Are you spiritually focused or stuff focused?
Matthew 16:26 New King James Version (NKJV)
26For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?
Matthew 16:26 English Standard Version (ESV)
26For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul?
2. Are you guarding your heart or guarding your possessions?
Luke 12:15 New King James Version (NKJV)
15And He said to them, “Take heed and beware of covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of the things he possesses.”
Luke 12:15 English Standard Version (ESV)
15And he said to them, “Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.”
3. Are you focused on today or eternity?
1 Timothy 6:7-8 New King James Version (NKJV)
7For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. 8And having food and clothing, with these we shall be content.
1 Timothy 6:7-8 English Standard Version (ESV)
7for we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world. 8But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content.
4. Are you focused on the size of your heart or the size of your bank account?
Ecclesiastes 5:10 New King James Version (NKJV)
10He who loves silver will not be satisfied with silver; Nor he who loves abundance, with increase. This also is vanity.
Ecclesiastes 5:10 English Standard Version (ESV)
10He who loves money will not be satisfied with money, nor he who loves wealth with his income; this also is vanity.
5. Are you focused on how you feel or how others feel?
Matthew 7:12 New King James Version (NKJV)
12Therefore, whatever you want men to do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.
Matthew 7:12 English Standard Version (ESV)
12“So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.
6. Are you focused on what man says or what GOD says?
Jeremiah 7:9-11 New King James Version (NKJV)
9Will you steal, murder, commit adultery, swear falsely, burn incense to Baal, and walk after other gods whom you do not know, 10and then come and stand before Me in this house which is called by My name, and say, ‘We are delivered to do all these abominations’? 11Has this house, which is called by My name, become a den of thieves in your eyes? Behold, I, even I, have seen it,” says the Lord.
Jeremiah 7:9-11 English Standard Version (ESV)
9Will you steal, murder, commit adultery, swear falsely, make offerings to Baal, and go after other gods that you have not known, 10and then come and stand before me in this house, which is called by my name, and say, ‘We are delivered!’—only to go on doing all these abominations? 11Has this house, which is called by my name, become a den of robbers in your eyes? Behold, I myself have seen it, declares the Lord.