Overindulgence-Living in Modern Day Babylon
Our women’s Bible study this past year did two Beth Moore studies. The first was on the book of Daniel. As I watched her first teaching on chapter one and then began the study on my own at home, I was very excited about the two main topics she covered. One of them had to do with an overindulgent lifestyle. I was encouraged to hear repeated some of the lessons I have been learning over the past year, as well as to receive motivation to continue growing in the area of stewardship and submitting all things to God.
First, what is an overindulgent lifestyle? Beth Moore began by explaining about Babylon. Babylonia was the place where the Israelites gathered after the time of Noah. They decided to build a city with a tower to heaven. They wanted to make a name for themselves. So God scattered them in order to save them from themselves. This attitude of self-importance has been carried through the ages to our modern day world.
The Babylon of today is a philosophy, a way of thinking, an attitude. We are being indoctrinated by the mentality, “I am and there is none besides me.” (Isaiah 47:8,10) This Babylonian mentality says, “It’s all about me; nothing is important more than me.” It’s all about self-absorption. There is an excessiveness to our culture. We are inundated with overindulgent choices. We can get our hamburgers any way we like them. There are mini meals, regular size meals, super size meals. There is a Starbucks on every corner so we can get our coffee anywhere, however we want it (soy, foam, cold, hot) We cut, color, highlight, extend, and straighten our hair. We pluck, wax, wrap, exfoliate, moisturize and massage our skin. Some nip, tuck and enhance their bodies. There are diets of every kind and extreme. There are fashion trends that change seasonally. Information is at our fingertips via books, magazines, newspapers and now the internet. We can connect with people via cell phones attached to our ears at all times, social networking sights that we can also access from our phones, and texting at all times. There are compact cars, sedans, SUVs, mini vans, sports cars, classic cars and hybrid cars. We can own boats, jet skis, RVs. For entertainment we have hundreds of TV and movie channels, DVDs, streaming movies, movies in the mail, movie theaters, community theaters, Broadway plays and musicals, amusement parks, museums, cultural centers. We can put our kids in dance, gymnastics, soccer, football, baseball, piano lessons, scouts, and the list goes on. When all these choices become too much for us and we want to “get away from it all” we can drive, fly or cruise to “paradise”.
Wow! It makes me out of breath just typing all that. As I look over it, I am sure that I have left out numerous other things we can choose from on a daily basis. What makes these choices overindulgent? It’s not the choices themselves. I believe it is the attitude with which they are made. As I have been learning about the idea of stewardship, I have come to see that nothing is really “mine.” God is my provider and gives me what I need for each day. This leads to another problem associated with overindulgence - that of entitlement.
Entitlement is the idea that “I deserve this. . . I’ve earned it. . . I am owed. . . “ The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines entitlement as a “belief that one is deserving of or entitled to certain privileges.” People can feel they are entitled to many things. No matter what a person may feel they are entitled to, the problem with entitlement is the same - it is an indication of a weakened spiritual condition - that of pride. Scripture teaches us that “every good and perfect gift comes from above” (James 1:17) and that God is the supplier of all our needs (Matthew 6:25-34). When we become dissatisfied with His provision, believing we need more, not only are we guilty of discontent, but of pride in thinking we know more of what we need than our Creator.
Entitlement can quickly lead to the mindset that more will make us happier. “If I can afford it (or it‘s free), I will get it.” But attaining more doesn’t make us happier. It fuels an insatiable desire for more. Those who are filled with the desire to attain become restless, they are never at peace, never content. Colossians 3:1-2 tells us that since we “have been raised with Christ” we are to “set (our) hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God.” To “set (our) minds on things above, not on earthly things.” Psalm 27:4 reminds us what our focus is to be: “One thing I ask of the Lord, this is what I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to seek Him in His temple.”
Isaiah 39:1-8 tells of King Hezekiah’s sin of showing all the treasures of Israel to the king of Babylon. He let his guard down. He took personal pride in all the treasures of Israel even though he didn’t attain them. They were God’s. He assumed he was opening the door to peaceful relations, but it ended up leading to captivity and the looting of the treasures of Israel.
We, too, will lose our identity and integrity without resolve. The desire to attain and have more can cause us to compromise our integrity. We begin to look for ways to “work” the system in order to get more for less. We must guard our hearts and minds. (Philippians 4:7). Our purpose is to be relevant for the purpose of God’s glory; not our own.
Overindulgence is found in the high premiums our culture places upon age, appearance, and intelligence. Daniel refused to eat from the king’s table. 1 Corinthians 6:12 tells us that, “everything is permissible for me - but not everything is beneficial - Everything is permissible for me - but I will not be mastered by anything.” The food the king was serving was unclean according to the law of the Israelites, but it was also rich food; indulgent food. Daniel asked that he be able to eat vegetables. The word used in verse 12 means food grown from sown seed. This included vegetables, fruit, grains and bread that is made from grain. Daniel demonstrated that by eating healthier foods, he in turn was stronger and better nourished than those who ate from the king’s table. Just because we can, doesn’t mean we should. By saying, “no” to buying, eating or watching whatever brings pleasure to our flesh, we are more likely to live healthier lifestyles and experience greater contentment.
Aside from the food itself, Daniel also knew that by sharing a meal with the king he would be committing himself to friendship with the king. Sharing a meal by Eastern standards was of covenant significance. We do not want to be friends with the overindulgent world.
Instead we should be desiring to gain knowledge and understanding by maintaining a close relationship with the Lord. By living according to His principles and following after Him with our whole hearts we will live a rich life in the here and now as well as in eternity. “Have nothing to do with godless myths and old wives tales; rather, train yourself to be godly. For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come.” 1 Timothy 4:7-8
May we turn away from the arrogant, selfish, overindulgent way of the world and instead choose to live for Christ with humility and a desire to glorify our heavenly Father instead of ourselves.
First, what is an overindulgent lifestyle? Beth Moore began by explaining about Babylon. Babylonia was the place where the Israelites gathered after the time of Noah. They decided to build a city with a tower to heaven. They wanted to make a name for themselves. So God scattered them in order to save them from themselves. This attitude of self-importance has been carried through the ages to our modern day world.
The Babylon of today is a philosophy, a way of thinking, an attitude. We are being indoctrinated by the mentality, “I am and there is none besides me.” (Isaiah 47:8,10) This Babylonian mentality says, “It’s all about me; nothing is important more than me.” It’s all about self-absorption. There is an excessiveness to our culture. We are inundated with overindulgent choices. We can get our hamburgers any way we like them. There are mini meals, regular size meals, super size meals. There is a Starbucks on every corner so we can get our coffee anywhere, however we want it (soy, foam, cold, hot) We cut, color, highlight, extend, and straighten our hair. We pluck, wax, wrap, exfoliate, moisturize and massage our skin. Some nip, tuck and enhance their bodies. There are diets of every kind and extreme. There are fashion trends that change seasonally. Information is at our fingertips via books, magazines, newspapers and now the internet. We can connect with people via cell phones attached to our ears at all times, social networking sights that we can also access from our phones, and texting at all times. There are compact cars, sedans, SUVs, mini vans, sports cars, classic cars and hybrid cars. We can own boats, jet skis, RVs. For entertainment we have hundreds of TV and movie channels, DVDs, streaming movies, movies in the mail, movie theaters, community theaters, Broadway plays and musicals, amusement parks, museums, cultural centers. We can put our kids in dance, gymnastics, soccer, football, baseball, piano lessons, scouts, and the list goes on. When all these choices become too much for us and we want to “get away from it all” we can drive, fly or cruise to “paradise”.
Wow! It makes me out of breath just typing all that. As I look over it, I am sure that I have left out numerous other things we can choose from on a daily basis. What makes these choices overindulgent? It’s not the choices themselves. I believe it is the attitude with which they are made. As I have been learning about the idea of stewardship, I have come to see that nothing is really “mine.” God is my provider and gives me what I need for each day. This leads to another problem associated with overindulgence - that of entitlement.
Entitlement is the idea that “I deserve this. . . I’ve earned it. . . I am owed. . . “ The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines entitlement as a “belief that one is deserving of or entitled to certain privileges.” People can feel they are entitled to many things. No matter what a person may feel they are entitled to, the problem with entitlement is the same - it is an indication of a weakened spiritual condition - that of pride. Scripture teaches us that “every good and perfect gift comes from above” (James 1:17) and that God is the supplier of all our needs (Matthew 6:25-34). When we become dissatisfied with His provision, believing we need more, not only are we guilty of discontent, but of pride in thinking we know more of what we need than our Creator.
Entitlement can quickly lead to the mindset that more will make us happier. “If I can afford it (or it‘s free), I will get it.” But attaining more doesn’t make us happier. It fuels an insatiable desire for more. Those who are filled with the desire to attain become restless, they are never at peace, never content. Colossians 3:1-2 tells us that since we “have been raised with Christ” we are to “set (our) hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God.” To “set (our) minds on things above, not on earthly things.” Psalm 27:4 reminds us what our focus is to be: “One thing I ask of the Lord, this is what I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to seek Him in His temple.”
Isaiah 39:1-8 tells of King Hezekiah’s sin of showing all the treasures of Israel to the king of Babylon. He let his guard down. He took personal pride in all the treasures of Israel even though he didn’t attain them. They were God’s. He assumed he was opening the door to peaceful relations, but it ended up leading to captivity and the looting of the treasures of Israel.
We, too, will lose our identity and integrity without resolve. The desire to attain and have more can cause us to compromise our integrity. We begin to look for ways to “work” the system in order to get more for less. We must guard our hearts and minds. (Philippians 4:7). Our purpose is to be relevant for the purpose of God’s glory; not our own.
Overindulgence is found in the high premiums our culture places upon age, appearance, and intelligence. Daniel refused to eat from the king’s table. 1 Corinthians 6:12 tells us that, “everything is permissible for me - but not everything is beneficial - Everything is permissible for me - but I will not be mastered by anything.” The food the king was serving was unclean according to the law of the Israelites, but it was also rich food; indulgent food. Daniel asked that he be able to eat vegetables. The word used in verse 12 means food grown from sown seed. This included vegetables, fruit, grains and bread that is made from grain. Daniel demonstrated that by eating healthier foods, he in turn was stronger and better nourished than those who ate from the king’s table. Just because we can, doesn’t mean we should. By saying, “no” to buying, eating or watching whatever brings pleasure to our flesh, we are more likely to live healthier lifestyles and experience greater contentment.
Aside from the food itself, Daniel also knew that by sharing a meal with the king he would be committing himself to friendship with the king. Sharing a meal by Eastern standards was of covenant significance. We do not want to be friends with the overindulgent world.
Instead we should be desiring to gain knowledge and understanding by maintaining a close relationship with the Lord. By living according to His principles and following after Him with our whole hearts we will live a rich life in the here and now as well as in eternity. “Have nothing to do with godless myths and old wives tales; rather, train yourself to be godly. For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come.” 1 Timothy 4:7-8
May we turn away from the arrogant, selfish, overindulgent way of the world and instead choose to live for Christ with humility and a desire to glorify our heavenly Father instead of ourselves.
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