Wanting more

Today's first reading (Proverbs 30:5-9) reminds us of the spiritual dangers of riches, but it also reminds us of the spiritual dangers of poverty.

Two things I ask of you,
deny them not to me before I die:

Put falsehood and lying far from me,
give me neither poverty nor riches;

Provide me only with the food I need;

Lest, being full, I deny you,
saying, "Who is the LORD?"

Or, being in want, I steal,
and profane the name of my God.

The danger lies in wanting more material things as the focus of one's existence instead of God as well as in doing evil to get and keep these things.

The answer lies not in impoverishment for its own sake and certainly not in shirking our family responsibilities.

Rich or poor or somewhere in-between, our answer lies in always keeping our focus on the Lord and in wanting to be filled more and more with his love and his grace.