GLMX #198: Things Money Can't Buy

Last month, the world was unfortunately introduced to a 22-year-old man named Elliot Rodger. His father is a Hollywood movie director, and he was raised in a $1 million home. He drove a Mercedes-Benz and a BMW. He bought $300 sunglasses, was chauffeured in limousines, attended private concerts, and flew first class. He had everything money could buy. But on Friday, May 23rd, he killed six people because, according to a YouTube video he left behind, he was frustrated and angry because women showed no interest in him.

With money and privileges that most people could only dream of, you would think that Elliot Rodger would be one of the happiest people on earth. But he wasn't. By his own admittance, he was angry and bitter at the world. While psychologists and psychiatrists debate his mental state and try to come up with a plausible reason why this man would kill his own roommates and then kill three others, one thing we know for sure is that no matter how much money he had, he was not happy, content, or satisfied with his life.

Sadly, today, many people focus on pursuing things that money can buy. And what is even more sad is that people actually look for fulfillment and meaning in these things. They look for happiness in cars, houses, success, sex, money, and more money. They quickly find out, though, that life is about far more than success and gaining material things. They realize that what they are really searching for is happiness, joy, love, internal peace and assurance for the future -- all things that money can't buy.

These things last forever and keep our hearts at rest during times of turmoil and conflict. Money cannot buy such things. Only a person can give them to us. And that person is Jesus Christ.

MUSICAL SELECTION: "Confessions" by Lecrae