I just read that the New York Yankees signed pitcher CC Sabathia for 161 millon dollars to a seven year contract. That’s 23 million a year to play a child’s game! How crazy is that? While our economy collapses, teachers are under-paid, and our veterans struggle to get decent health care, entertainers and athletes are paid exorbitant sums of money to do things that don’t really matter. That ought to tell you why our country is in such a mess. People are able to pay those huge amounts because there is a market for their “services”. That reveals where our values are.
Man’s selfishness is not only sinful and harmful to others, it is self-destructive. The desire for self-gratification relates to every problem we face. We bring our problems on ourselves–then we try to blame everyone else, including God. We scream to high heaven about life being unfair when we ourself caused the problem–that’s what’s unfair!
The solution to all of this is to follow Christ, be a disciple. That requires the denial of self, but it pays big dividends. When we put Christ first life will be as good as it can possibly be as long as we are earth-bound creatures. When we truly follow Him with all our heart He will provide everything we need to fulfill His plan in our lives. That’s not to say He will fulfill all your fleshly desires—that would be counter productive. But He will meet our needs and use our experiences to conform us to His likeness.
America is in its present condition because most people think their plan is better than God’s. They refuse to yield to His authority, follow His dictates, and love Him supremely. That affects everything we do. It especially affects our relationship with others. That’s why we neglect and abuse others and pamper ourselves. We value self more than God.
You might think paying athletes and entertainers huge sums of money has nothing to do with spiritual things, but you are wrong. The very fact that people are able and willing to do this reveals what Americans value most. Sadly, their values are misplaced. THINK ABOUT IT!
