Keeping Up With the Jones'.

     We see our neighbor get a new car, so we have to outdo them and get a nicer one. This goes for boats, rv's, houses, better jobs, and so on. It seems that there are large numbers of people who are driven by the desire to outdo their neighbor, at any and all cost.
     We have some wise words from the book of Ecclesiastes that speak to this evil that is so prevalent in society today.

     I have seen that every labor and every skill which is done is the result of rivalry between a man and his neighbor. This too is vanity and striving after wind.
                               Ecclesiastes 4:4 NASB

     All of this flows from selfish ambition, the idea that life revolves around me. A selfish person is not happy for their neighbor when they experience good in their lives, instead they are filled with jealousy, and strive to outdo them. Such a person is always filled with discontent as they struggle to get one up on those around them. Solomon rightly states that it is meaningless, a striving after wind.
     Jesus warns us about laying up earthly treasure. The things that we work so hard for in this life will one day perish. We cannot take our treasures with us out of this life. Our greedy pursuits only prove that our selfish hearts are tied up in "things", and are closed to Christ (Matt 6:19-21).
     John warns us not to love the world,

     Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes, and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world. The world is passing away, and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God lives forever.
                                      1 John 2:15-17 NASB

     Jesus tells us that we cannot serve two masters (Matt 6:24). We read here that it is impossible to love the world and God at the same time. When we live to "keep up with the Jones'" we are serving the god of materialism; there is no real love for God abiding within us. This is nothing but pride, and it is the downfall of multitudes.
     What about you, who do you serve?