As a staff member with Campus Crusade for Christ I sat under the teaching of Bill Bright, the founder of the organization, many times. One talk still resonates after all these years. In a gathering for young staff men Dr. Bright predicted three great temptations—sex, pride and materialism.

Over the years I’ve grown to appreciate the wisdom of these warnings. As a psalmist, David couched similar sagacity in the words, the sorrows of those who run after another god shall multiply.

What gods tempt today? Sex, pride and materialism dance before us. Add to these the incessant drums of narcissism and self-fulfillment. Dr Bright’s talk (he always spoke at length) would need a few more points.

Contrast running after another to sticking close to the God of the Bible. The Lord is my chosen portion and my cup; you hold my lot. The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; indeed, I have a beautiful inheritance.

Expanding sorrows or a pleasant inheritance? One certainly sounds better than the other, and as Dr. Bright clarified, both are within our grasp.

Psalm 16 in reading the Bible in 2023

Photo by Guido Hofmann