Mammon Moments

Good morning as this cooler, wetter summer progresses toward...we don't know for sure. I'll just be grateful for today and leave it at that. Today, a word of warning for us all. Many of us suffer these thoughts. The carnal man or woman within us is a persistent thing.

Mr. B survived a concentration camp during World War II, and not just any camp but the deadliest of them all, Auschwitz-Birkenau. After recovering from near starvation and other conditions endemic to the camps, Mr. B headed for his family home in Poland. There, he discovered a common condition in those dark times, a squatter had moved in and refused to relinquish the home. Mr. B's suffering had not ended just yet. The stranger invited Mr. B. in and sat him down in a chair that Mr. B recognized. No, the man claimed, that chair was purchased by me. Mr. B. turned the chair over and found the family name on the underside. The man changed the subject. We know that you hid money in this house before you left; tell me where to find it and we'll split it 50/50, the man demanded. Mr. B. left the home and like many liberated Jews in that time settled elsewhere.

Years later, Mr. B. revisited his family home, perhaps a bit of nostalgia or just idle curiosity drove him, but back to his family home he went. There, much to his surprise, Mr. B. found the home in ruins. Asking around the neighborhood, Mr. B. heard the tale. The man was so convinced of hidden treasure that he tore apart the walls, dug up the basement floors, tore down the ceilings, and dismantled everything he could in search of a treasure he thought was hidden by the desperate family being taken away to their deaths. After the destruction had made the home unlivable, the man found that he lacked the funds to repair the home and moved away.

Such tales are a warning to us all, but I too must admit to these mammon moments. A mammon moment is that time when the mind turns to thoughts of idle greed. Surely, the carnal mind suggests, there must be a treasure tucked, hidden, buried, or stuffed somewhere in this old/new/remodeled home. If it isn't our home, the carnal mind suggests other places such as old churches, abandoned buildings, burned farmsteads, or, dare we say it, cemeteries and the like. The carnal mind knows no restraint when it comes to illicit gain, and such thoughts will sneak up on us until Jesus brings us home.

The destruction of a family home that didn't belong to him in search of an imaginary treasure that he held no right to possess may have cost a man his soul. We too must beware these mammon moments in our lives. God provides for us, and we don't need to dismantle the home He has provided in an effort to help ourselves. The real treasure is in God's Word, and it is freely available to whoever wills.

God bless you all,
Bucky