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"Hell and destruction are never full; so the eyes of man are never satisfied." (Proverbs 27:20).
The Contemporary English Bible puts it this way, "Death and the grave are never satisfied, and neither are we." There is something in us that is like Death and the Grave; it's the never-satisfied appetite for more and more.
That is a rather disturbing comparison, don't you think?
The Proverbs go on in another place to expound on this theme. "A leech has twin daughters named "Gimme" and "Gimme more." Three things are never satisfied, no, there are four that never say, "That's enough, thank you!"-- hell, a barren womb, a parched land, a forest fire." (Pro 30:15-16, Message).
The greed in man's heart is like each of these things -- death, hell, a barren womb, a parched land, a forset fire, and a bucket of leeches. Never satisfied! Forever wanting more and more, and never able to say "Enough!"
Tolstoy tells of a farmer who had a lust for more and more land. Finally he heard of cheap land among the Bashkirs. He sold all he had, made a long journey to their territory, and arranged a deal with them. For one thousand rubles he could buy all the land he could walk around in one day.
The next morning he set out and walked far in one direction and then turned left. He made many detours to include extra areas of good soil. By the time he made his last turn, he realized he had gone too far. He ran as fast as possible to get back to the starting point before sunset.
Faster and faster he ran and finally staggered and fell across the starting point just as the sun set. He lay there dead. They buried him in a small hole, all the land he needed.
More times than not when you want something so bad you cannot stand not having it -- once you do get it, you find that it is not really what you wanted after all. In fact, rather than being a blessing to you -- it becomes a curse.
Guard you heart from lusting for more and more -- for you just might become swallowed up by the very thing you are chasing after.
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