status

Psalm 84:10: "Better is one day in your courts than a thousand elsewhere; I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of the wicked." (NIV)
The humility of this Psalm 84 always strikes me. The writer of this Psalm would rather be a doorkeeper, a lowly servant, than to enjoy all the fruits of sin and wrongdoing. I am sometimes reminded that there is a profit to be made from participating in things that God's Word clearly says are wrong. The lucrativeness of the pornography industry is an example of this. Hugh Hefner, the founder of Playboy, lives in a mansion. Drug cartels in some parts of the world possess all the expensive toys money can buy.
Now, most of us are probably not tempted to found pornographic entertainment industries or to become drug lords. But we are subtly tempted each day to "sell out" to the world and its value (or lack of values) system. Will we "fudge" the details at work to get ahead? Will we cheat on that school test to move up in class standings? Will we participate in hurtful gossip about another person that somehow seems to make us popular?
These are questions that are worth our consideration. Will we trust what we can gain from honest work and truthful conversation? Are we satisfied with the gifts that God gives to us or do we always want more?
I'm reminded of a great prayer that makes this point: "Lord, let me have just enough. Do not let me have too little lest I be tempted to steal. Do not let me have too much lest I be tempted to trust in riches. But let me have just enough."