Contemplative Bible Reading

1 Timothy 6:17 (Holman Christian Standard Bible)

Instruct those who are rich in the present age not to be arrogant or to set their hope on the uncertainty of wealth, but on God, who richly provides us with all things to enjoy.

Good news: God provides us with all things to enjoy. Ice cream? From God to enjoy. Worship ice cream? Not what God intended.

Okay, ice cream is a silly example. Instead of “ice cream,” try…well, you get the idea. There are all sorts of things we could put in there. It is too easy for us to slip from enjoying a thing to putting it practically first in our lives. It must be too easy because I often do it.

I can tell myself, and anyone who will listen, that the things I enjoy just a little or a lot too much are more enriching than the things that the other fella’ enjoys. I mean reading a good book is more enriching than snorting cocaine, right? Yeah, but let’s not exaggerate the point. Wait, if it makes me look good in my own mind, I’ll exaggerate. After all…

No, there is no “after all,” and putting a good book in front of just about everything else in life is wrong. The rich, who are damned in the above verse, put their hope in their wealth. Putting my hope in a good book is the same.

Enjoy? Yes. Enjoy too much? No. How much is too much? If I ask, I am probably doing too much.