Scripture Passage
Scripture Focus
Better a dry crust eaten in peace
than a house filled with feasting—and conflict.
(Proverbs 17:1 NLT)
Observation
Didn’t take long for me to find a verse that struck a chord today.
We live in a world pretty well focused on the bigger and better, the latest and greatest, the more luxurious, remarkable, and fantastic. Houses, automobiles, vacation spots, entertainment systems, communication devices—across the spectrum things simply seem to grow more and more spectacular.
By most any account, I occupy the simplest of homes, but by comparison to the houses my grandparents live in, I possess a veritable mansion. It occurred to me a while back that, given advancements in food delivery systems, I’ve regularly (and without giving it a second thought) enjoyed fresh fruits and vegetables, meats, and cheeses that would have been among the most exotic imports for the world’s wealthiest kings only a century or two ago.
In many cases, though, we’ve paid a heavy price for our delights. Life tends to boil down to being about stuff or about people, and—c’mon, let’s face it—our pursuit of “stuff” has often cost us dearly in the “people” department. Our drive to possess the best often leaves us giving second best to relationships—or leaving them out of the mix altogether.
Let me be clear: I like stuff. But ain’t no stuff goin’ to heaven. Besides—it won’t be needed. Heaven’s sort of an “all inclusive” resort, if you get my drift. The only transferable wealth will be the investment I’ve made in people and relationships.
So, while “stuff” is fine—and everything else being equal, anybody would prefer “feasting” to a crust of bread—I never want to trade the lasting value of an honest, healthy, mutually-beneficial relationship for the quickly fading value of temporal stuff. If the result is a dry crust eaten in peace (versus a house filled with feasting—and conflict), well, that's a trade I'm willing to make.
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