[Tuesday's Devotional] - The Loneliness of Envy (Streets of London)

The Loneliness of Envy (Streets of London) Again, another song from my childhood and yes, I totally misunderstood this one as well!!  I thought it was a jolly song, about visiting London. I had an Aunt who lived in London when I was very young and visiting her was such a joyous thing to do. Filled with big buildings and flashing lights and every time I heard this song it reminded me of her. It still does. But alas, I missed the obvious point, but then I was only 6 or 7 years old.  I feel the song is more about someone who is not happy with their lot. Who wishes for more, and wants more. Material envy is a very dangerous feeling. The desire to "own" to accumulate "stuff" is powerful, we see others, daily, on TV, in our own lives, our friends and we want that they have, We covet it. Sometimes, this desire to "have" leads us down a dangerous path. One away from God and towards the "loneliness of envy" Jesus clearly talks about this in Matthew: "No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money. "Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life? Matthew 6: 24-27 [NIV] You cannot serve money and God. The desire for stuff can make us become lonely in our outlook. We can start to dislike our friends and what they have, clearly forgetting what we have. In the song, the singer is telling us. "So you think you have it bad" Come with me and let me show you bad on your own doorstep! Be thankful for what you have. There will always be somebody worse off than you, and in my experience, they always have lots of stuff. The happiest people I know, generally give the most and have the least.   Steve Fogo   Streets of London - Sinead O'Connor [YouTube Video - 4 min 9 secs] Twitter Website Copyright © 2017 St. Matthew & St. Oswald's Church, All rights reserved. You are receiving this email as a subscriber to the Daily Devotionals Our mailing address is: St. Matthew & St. Oswald's Church 1a New Street Rugby, Warwickshire CV22 7BE United Kingdom Add us to your address book Want to change how you receive these emails? You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list Want to be added to our mailing list? - sign up here!