Proverbs 15:16

The book of Proverbs gives us insights into so many different areas of life. The book gives us instruction on how to live our lives for God. Here is a proverb that gives us insight about stuff:

Proverbs 15:16 (ESV)

Better is a little with the fear of the LORD

than great treasure and trouble with it.

We are a society of stuff. We love stuff. We love shinny stuff. We love plastic stuff. We love chrome stuff. We love techy stuff. We love BIG stuff. We love stuff no one else has. The only thing we like more than stuff? More stuff! We love to accumulate stuff. In Solomon's day he was a master of collecting stuff (1 Kings 1-10). Solomon had so much gold, he put gold on gold. Solomon had horses and ships and servants and women. He had stuff and that makes this proverb even more remarkable. Solomon knew what it was like to have so much stuff and the power of that stuff to pull you away from God. You could have all kinds of awards and achievements and accumulations and still have turmoil. It is better to have nothing and the fear of the Lord than to everything without Him.   God is the center of our lives and is the only One who can provide the peace we need when we have accumulated stuff. Stuff only works when we have God in the center of the stuff. When you have stuff with no center you have turmoil. When you have stuff with God in the middle you have the key formula.