Here’s something to think about: The driving factors behind nearly every human ambition can be broken down into three categories: Pleasure, Power, and Wealth.
Observe.
A) Pleasure, Power, Wealth.
* People use PLEASURE to gain POWER over others and to gain access to their WEALTH (house, money, food, insurance, etc.)
B) Pleasure, Wealth, Power.
* People use PLEASURE to gain WEALTH and POWER.
(*variation of both A and C)
C) Power, Pleasure, Wealth.
* People use POWER (or fame) to gain PLEASURE in order to gain WEALTH.
D) Power, Wealth, Pleasure.
* People use POWER (or fame) to gain WEALTH, to buy PLEASURE.
E) Wealth, Power, Pleasure.
* People use their WEALTH to buy both POWER and PLEASURE.
(*A variation of D)
F) Wealth, Pleasure, Power.
* People use WEALTH to buy PlEASURE and POWER.
(*A variation of both D and E.)
So it can be deduced then, that nearly every decision we make as human beings has at least one of these ulterior motives behind it. Even the best of us is manipulative, cunning, and deceptive at heart.
“The human heart is the most deceitful of all things, and desperately wicked. Who really knows how bad it is? But I, the Lord, search all hearts and examine secret motives. I give all people their due rewards, according to what their actions deserve.”
~ Jeremiah 17: 9-10 New Living Translation (NLT)
This is truly discouraging because, as I pointed out, we all are guilty of using at least one of the “Pleasure, Power, Wealth agendas” at least once in our lifetimes. And since God knows everything ... there's really nothing we can say for ourselves.
Fortunately though, there's a way out.
“When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners. Now, most people would not be willing to die for an upright person, though someone might perhaps be willing to die for a person who is especially good. But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners. And since we have been made right in God’s sight by the blood of Christ, he will certainly save us from God’s condemnation. For since our friendship with God was restored by the death of his Son while we were still his enemies, we will certainly be saved through the life of his Son. So now we can rejoice in our wonderful new relationship with God because our Lord Jesus Christ has made us friends of God.”
~ Romans 5:6-11 New Living Translation (NLT)
And because of this we are at last free of our nature. We can fight it. We can rise above it. We are no longer slaves to the hidden ambitions of pleasure, power and wealth. (Romans 6:20-24) There is freedom in Christ. And I for one would rather be free than a slave to the self-destructive, self-deceiving agendas lurking in my own heart and mind.
What about you?
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