More Will Never Be Enough


“Quick, let’s go,” my wife said to me, “they just got a new shipment at Ames in Huntingdon.” This was exciting news. Stores everywhere were bombarded with requests. Somebody told us that it was selling for hundreds of dollars on the Internet, and this was for an item that was regularly $20. It was only a couple weeks until Christmas. Time was running out. We knew if we got this for Seth, then his Christmas would be perfect. We had to have Tickle Me Elmo.

I don’t know what happened to Tickle Me Elmo. We gave him away, I think. He still worked, still tickled. But Seth didn’t care anymore. Nobody cared. It’s very sad. But come to think of it, nobody cared about Elmo even weeks after the gift was given.

You may laugh at this behavior, but I bet there is a Tickle Elmo-like purchase in your past. Heck, there’s probably one in your past month. This is because most of us have problems controlling our desire for the Next Thing. The Next Thing might be a car, a promotion, or the love of a beautiful woman. It might be a cabbage patch doll, a flat screen, or an iphone. “We keep hoping that The Next Thing will be IT – the source of true satisfaction for our souls,” writes John Ortberg.

And maybe it is, for a few minutes, a few days. But then it wears off. It always wears off. And we have to go get something else.

I love my wife. What if she were to take a credit card and go to Boscov’s for a day of unlimited shopping, buying every outfit, every pair of shoes, every electronic gadget, every piece of jewelry her heart desired? Would it be enough?

We’ll never know.


King Solomon was a man who knew about this Itch. And he knew how to scratch it. In fact, he dedicated his life to this pursuit of more. He made his life a test of pleasure. He had the finest foods. He surrounded himself with art and beauty. He built the finest palace. It took a construction crew of 150,000 thirteen years to build. It was a really nice house. He had the finest musicians. He accumulated one thousand wives and concubines. He was supposed to be the smartest guy in the world, and yet he collected a thousand wives.

He indulged every appetite. “I denied myself nothing my eyes desired; I refused my heart no pleasure.”

Where did it get him? Nothingness, he said. Vanity. A waste of time.


Now. You may say to that – “If only I had his problem.” You may say, “Give me unlimited wealth and I’ll find a way to be happy.” Many people think they’d like to try.

Of course, we are in the midst of economic recession and so King’s Solomon’s dilemma is problem not on the radar for any of us. I read that even the very rich of our country are cutting back. The corporate CEO”s are making the sacrifice of selling off their corporate jets. Some people in Beverly Hills are not making “obvious” extravagant purchases. They don’t want to be seen carrying Prada bags. O, the humanity!

I saw a cartoon recently that captured the spirit of the times quite well. Santa has gone to see a psycho therapist. Santa is depressed over the bad economy and how people seem to want as many toys.

The psychotherapist replies, “you just have to believe in yourself.”


There is good news. There is a vision of life in which are happiness and well-being are not dictated by our purchases, or even by the state of the economy. The Bible says that it’s possible to live on very little and live richly.


There was a man named John the Baptist who went one better. He lived on nothing. He seemed to test himself with how little pleasure he could live on. Call him the anti-Solomon. Here is how Matthew describes him:

“John wore a camel’s hair shirt and a leather belt. A typical meal for him was locusts and wild honey.” Matthew 3.4

But John had something that Solomon, by his own admission, never had. John had an assurance that he knew exactly what life was about. Life is about a Kingdom, the kingdom of God, and you are either a part of this kingdom or you are not. Better do what you can to become a kingdom member.

“Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.”

John the Baptist was an oddity even to the Jewish people back then who were not surprised by wild-eyed prophets in rough clothing. John was odd because he didn’t seem to want anything else besides proclaiming his message about the Kingdom and the Messiah. John had all the pleasure and satisfaction he needed. He couldn’t be bought. He couldn’t be seduced. He was not attracted to or intimidated by power. John was content.

The Apostle Paul lived a similar life to John’s. It was full of hardship and persecution. But Paul was absolutely sure of what he was doing and the One who called him.

“For I have learned to be content with whatever I have.. I know what it is to have little, and I know what it is to have a lot. In any and all circumstances I have learned the secret of being well-fed and of going hungry, of having plenty and of being in need. I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.” Philippians 4.11-13


There is an old Shaker hymn with which you may be familiar. It’s called ‘Tis the Gift to be Simple. Listen to the words of the first stanza:

Tis the gift to be simple. Tis the gift to be free.
Tis the gift to come down where you ought to be.

However, if we keep trying to scratch that Itch, more will never be enough. We keep thinking that a train called more will get us to a station called satisfaction.

What if, however, the train is called contentment? And what if the station is called heaven?

If this world is not our home, then why should we expect to be satisfied with the things of this world?

Will you say enough to your purchases this Christmas? Put a limit on how much you will buy. Give it to Heifer Project. Give it to the Rescue Mission. Give it to the Church. Be content.

“Someday, when we stand before God with nothing but the clothes on our backs, we will see Him face-to-face. Then our longing for truth, beauty, love, and purpose will be fully realized. Then the restless human race will finally cry out, “Enough!”

And God will say, “More!”