Is too much of a good thing a bad thing?  What made me think of this question was grass & onions, more precisely, grass IN my onions.  Let me explain.  I love grass, and I probably inherited that from my Dad.  He took pride in having a lush green lawn, and he spent many hours taking care of it.  I too appreciate a well-manicured yard, and we have invested time and money to make it look good; but when that grass chokes out the onions I planted for food, it must go!  Our last row of Texas Giant Onions beside the fence got neglected, and this beautiful Bermuda grass crept in under the fence and overtook them.  Now weeds are one thing; yes, they are a pain (especially Dove weed!) but they can be weed-eated or pulled up somewhat easily.  But when grass has taken root amongst your vegetables (especially onions), there is no other way to get it out except by hand, and it does NOT come up willingly.  So, as I spent the last couple hours pulling up grass and shaking out the nutrient-rich soil on my onions, I pondered the question above.  In this case, too much of a good thing in the wrong place was not a good thing.  To further illustrate, I think we all would agree that water is a good thing, because without it we’d be dead!  But literally as I typed the first few words of this blog, I forgot about the coffee pot, which was slowly filling up with water underneath our Berkey, until I heard the splashing of water on the countertop and floor.  Water?  Good.  Water overflowing in the kitchen?  Not good.  As a combat instructor, we learned (and witnessed) the signs of dehydration, heat exhaustion, and heat stroke, which often were directly linked to inadequate hydration.  But we also learned (and witnessed on occasion) the symptoms of hyponatremia, where a person gets sick from drinking too much water.  Yes, too much water can kill you!  Yet another example is coffee.  I LOVE coffee, but if I drink too much, it will make me nauseous, and I will be unable to sleep.  I actually knew a guy in seminary who almost died because of too much coffee…true story!  You get the point.    I think we all can agree that too much of a good thing CAN in fact be a bad thing…too much sugar, too much salt, too much fast food, too many vegetables, too much money, too much stuff, too much sun, too much rain, too much work, and even too much freedom.  All these seemingly good things can become bad things under the right (or wrong) conditions, and WE are the ones who will ultimately determine into which category they will go: good or bad.    

Consider the blessings of God.  To be sure, we in America are the recipients of God’s greatest blessings: we enjoy freedom to express our faith in worship publicly; freedom of speech (at least now); the right to bear arms; and more wealth (GDP) than any other nation on the planet.  We have the nation’s best military bar-none, and now (thanks to President Trump) the most secure border we’ve had in many years.  God has given us a reprieve from the evil regime that was, and things seem to be headed in a positive direction once again.  While I am thankful to live in the greatest country in the history of the world, and though I am eternally grateful for the sacrifices made by so many to secure and preserve our freedom and way of life, I cannot help but wonder: are all the good things we enjoy really the blessings of God?  And if so, is too much of a good thing a bad thing?  In other words, are we allowing all these blessings endowed to us by our Creator to point us to the heart of the Giver?  Or are we turning them into substitutes for Him?  There are many examples in Scripture and warnings against the blessings of God becoming burdens and barriers.  Check these out.

Deuteronomy 8:10-14, 17-18:

“When you have eaten and are satisfied…be careful that you do not forget the Lord…You may say to yourself, ‘My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me.’”

Hosea 13:6

“When I fed them, they were satisfied; when they were satisfied, they became proud; then they forgot me.”

Mark 4:18-19

“…the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things come in and choke the word, making it unfruitful.”

Matthew 19:21-24

“If you want to be perfect, go, sell what you have and give to the poor…But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.”

For believers, the blessings of God in and of themselves are not bad, they are good.  Abraham trusted and followed God, and the Lord blessed him and Sarah with a son, along with the very important promise that through Abraham all the nations of the earth would be blessed (Genesis 12:3).  But when God told Abraham to sacrifice his only son, he complied without hesitation.  He understood that God was the Source of all things, especially his son Isaac, and ultimately everything he had belonged to Him.  So, while Abraham loved Isaac dearly, he trusted God more and was willing to give his beloved son back to his Creator as an offering. Of course, this was a test which Abraham passed, and God provided a sacrifice in the place of his son.

As believers we agree that all blessings come from God.  James 1:17 (NASB) says “EVERY good thing given and EVERY perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow.”

Just as with Abraham, these good gifts from God are a test, to see if we will glorify Him with what He has given. What can happen over time (I know from experience) is that we begin to think the blessings of God belong to us, or that we did something to earn or deserve them.  For example, a man works very hard for forty years at a job, generates wealth for himself and his family, and receives a good retirement package.  Not all at once, but over the years he begins to take credit for his success instead of giving glory to God.  He says to himself “I’ve worked really hard for what I have, I’ve sacrificed years away from my wife and kids, and I’ve spent wisely so they could have the best life possible.  I’ve earned the right to take it easy.” Then when he reaches retirement, he enjoys the “fruit of his labor”.  Sound familiar? See Luke 12:19-20. While the will or drive to provide for his family is noble (and biblical), let’s ask these probing questions: 1. Who made him? 2. Who gave him his personality and the desire to work?  3. Who told his heart to beat and lungs to breathe?  4. Who kept him in good health all those years?  5. Who gave him the energy to get up morning after morning and go to work?  6.  How did He use all God gave him to give glory back to Him?  And here’s the kicker: 7. If he had been a sold-out follower of Jesus, would his life have looked differently?  Whether he recognizes it or not, EVERYTHING he is, EVERYTHING he did, and EVERYTHING he acquired was given to Him by the hand of God.  And if he worked all those years only for himself and his family, so they could experience the “American Dream”, or so he could relax on “Easy Street” at retirement, then those blessings of God were wasted opportunities to glorify Him…chances he will never get back. 

You see, we were made for one purpose and one purpose alone…to bring glory to God.  The way we bring glory to God is through repentance and faith in Jesus Christ, baptism, and obedience to Jesus’ commands.  It sounds simple, but it is not easy.   

Jesus, the Son of God, and Creator of all things, did not mince words when speaking of loyalty solely to Him.  His hardest sayings were ones given as ultimatums in “black & white” as it were.  As we think of the blessings of God and remember the question above, consider Jesus’ words:

Luke 11:23

“He who is not with Me is against Me; and he who does not gather with Me, scatters.”

Matthew 10:37

“He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; and he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me.”

Luke 14:26

“If anyone comes to Me, and does not hate [love less] his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be My disciple.”

Luke 14:34

“So then, none of you can be My disciple who does not give up all his own possessions.”

Luke 9:23

“If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me.”

No one is just called to salvation.  If you have been called to Jesus in salvation, you have been called up and called out from this world and its ways to serve the King of Kings with your life and all that it entails.  All who are called are called to be followers of Jesus, and followers of Jesus strive to obey everything He says.  Now, if you will, reread the above Scriptures as if your name is in the text, as though Jesus was speaking directly to you, because He is.

I can almost hear the questions now: “Does this mean that I have to…?”  To that I will say I don’t have the answers, only the Lord does.  It may be that the Lord IS asking you to give up certain things, maybe everything, to live a life more submitted to Him. It might be that the Lord is asking you to leave the security of your family and friends to go serve Him in a distant country.  It may be that God is asking you to give up your inheritance to follow Jesus.  It could be that the Lord is calling you to full-time ministry.  One thing I do know: the Lord IS always calling us to sacrifice more, always calling us to go deeper in our faith, no matter what that may look like.  Are you listening? 

My encouragement to you today is this: Be willing to give it all up.  Hold with open hands before the Lord the job, the money, the houses, the lands, the retirement, the possessions, the loved ones, ALL the blessings He has given you…all of it.  Be willing to lay it all down on the altar for the One Who laid it all down for you.

As for the question, “Is too much of a good thing a bad thing, even when it comes to the blessings of God?”  That depends on what you do with what God has given you…and He has given you EVERYTHING.  We have only been given one brief shot on this temporary earth to make an impact that will last for all eternity.  Make it count and remember: “Only one life twill soon be past, only what’s done for Christ will last.”