Saturday Song: BB Gabor, "Consumer"

This time of year is the most profitable for stores. I've heard that the last two months of the year make up for the previous ten in sales. That's why the day after American Thanksgiving Day is called Black Friday.

A singer named BB Gabor released this social-comment song on an album in 1980. It highlights our consumer culture and how fanatical some folks are about getting inside the stores first.

Listen to Mr. Gabor's song here:

The problem with possessions is that they sometimes possess us. We buy a smart phone but it needs apps. We buy a DVD player and it begs us for disks. We buy a car and it requires insurance, gasoline, and oil changes.

Jesus spoke about the eternal worthlessness of possessions in Mark 8:36 (KJV) when he said, "For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?"

Jesus might have had Proverbs 11:4 (BBE) in mind regarding riches and Judgement Day. "Wealth is of no profit in the day of wrath, but righteousness keeps a man safe from death."

And as Solomon also wrote, riches are fleeting. Proverbs 23:4 and 5 (BBE) reads, "Take no care to get wealth; let there be an end to your desire for money. Are your eyes lifted up to it? it is gone: for wealth takes to itself wings, like an eagle in flight up to heaven."

We also need to remember that God is our God, not the things we own. A rich, young temple ruler asked Jesus how he could gain eternal life. When the man told him how he kept all the law from his youth, Jesus saw that his wealth was his god. That's why the Lord said in Mark 10:21 (BBE), "And Jesus, looking on him and loving him, said, "There is one thing needed: go, get money for your goods, and give it to the poor, and you will have wealth in heaven: and come with me'".

On Monday, I'll post about how Jesus is the saviour of all his people.