Money will always continue to lure and influence people.

America has become the "me" nation that likes to accumulate things. People who have garages can't park their cars in them as they are too filled with other things. We collect stuff to make us feel better, our life easier, for a break in the mundane or to impress others, but what is the end result - more stuff to store. Storage companies can't build fast enough!

Scripture warns us to examine our treasures in Matthew 6:19, 21, "Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal. But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also."

Americans are easily duped! Companies spend hundreds of thousands of dollars studying and implementing strategies and marketing plans to catch our attention. They know that shelf display and positioning is a key to sales. They study your body's reaction to color, label design and position. They study your protein release, adrenaline function, heart rate and retina reaction in order to volley for the best place of advertisement. This is not a game this is serious business.

Financial Peace author Dave Ramsey tells us buyers do get a rush from purchasing items. Documented research identifies certain chemical changes in a buyer when making a significant purchase. As a person decides to buy the body goes through different stages. Our heartbeat increases, pupils dilate, and adrenaline is released along with proteins, hormones and enzymes. Just think about that next time you are buying something significant. [1] People actually get hooked on this rush and are controlled, yes, addicted to it.

Today we have more access to excess yet less discipline than ever before. The urge to have (selfishness plus no discipline) along with an avenue to get what we want quickly leads to big consequences - quick fixes become long and enduring months and years of payback. What appears to be too good to be true is! Proverbs 14:29 "He who is impulsive exalts folly".