| Proverbs 30:15-16 – “The leech has two daughters. ‘Give! Give!’ they cry. “There are three things that are never satisfied, four that never say, ‘Enough!’: the grave, the barren womb, land, which is never satisfied with water, and fire, which never says, ‘Enough!’” |
Do you have a “more” problem?
A more problem is when you want “more.”
Advertisers know it can be used as a motivator when they say “Don’t you want more out of life?” That one question creates an itch that our spiritual arms just cannot seem to reach.
Then there is the wide world of Amazon where you can have what seems to be anything you want.
But there’s something else–time–want to do more with the time. So people cram more stuff into their lives to do and find out that they can’t even find the roses to smell along the way.
It’s not a good place to be. Gustav II, the king of Sweden discovered the problem with “more.”
As other nation’s navies grew, he decided he needed to protect his nation by building the biggest warship in the world. He contracted with Henrik Hybertsson to build a ship called the Vasa.
It was a massive project.
it took the lumber of 1000 trees for the boat.
He told Hybertsson that money was no object.
The boat was originally designed to be 108 feet long with 32 cannons on deck. But Gustave decided that was not enough. He changed the length to 120 feet. The trouble was all the lumber for the first length had been cut.
As they made adjustments, the king wanted more. He instructed to make it even longer to 135 feet. And instead of 32 cannons, he wanted 36 cannons in two rows, plus 12 smaller guns, 48 mortars, and 10 smaller weapons.
Hybertsson moved heaven and earth for the adjustments but as they came close to finishing, Gustav again changed his mind. Now, he wanted 64 cannons. With this, Hybertsson collapsed and died of a heart attack.
But the project continued with the assistant named Hein Jacobsson. More money was spent and expansion continued. Then the king added 700 sculptures which took 2 additional years to build.
But the day finally arrived. On August 10, 1628, the Vasa left the Stockholm port for its maiden voyage. It had not been tested, and this would prove a problem.
The king invited foreign representatives to come and watch his fine ship sail with a fireworks gala.
And…as the ship sailed away, they opened the gunports to fire a salute. But a gust of wind caught the vessel and tilted it to one side. Water flooded in and in fifty minutes, it sank with all 53 crew members on board. It all ended ¾ of a mile from shore.
More is seldom the answer.
As the wiseman said, “The leech has two daughters. ‘Give! Give!’ they cry. “There are three things that are never satisfied, four that never say, ‘Enough!’: the grave, the barren womb, land, which is never satisfied with water, and fire, which never says, ‘Enough!’” (Proverbs 30:15–16, NIV)
The answer is seldom more.
You don’t need more time, just better living.
You don’t need more things, just appreciation for gifts already bestowed.
Don’t let the “more” in life sink you as well.
–Robert G. Taylor
robertgtaylor.com
