We watched an old(er) movie this weekend. You may have seen my plea for your favorite old movie on Facebook. I got a GREAT list of movies, in reply, that I’m actually keeping as a reminder (and if you’re really good, I’ll tack it on to the end of this post). But, back to my point.

We watched Sabrina, the 1995 version with Harrison Ford and Julia Ormond. The original with Audrey Hepburn is one of my favorites (the DRESS!), but I couldn’t remember how I’d felt about this version, so we ordered it up on Amazon. It did not disappoint. Well, except for the DRESS, which was entirely too mother-of-the-bride for a young and beautiful Julia Ormond. But, back to my point.

Harrison Ford’s character, Linus, is the older brother who is completely consumed with running the family’s multi-billion dollar company, while his younger brother, David, (Greg Kinnear) lives the carefree and irresponsible life of a playboy. Julia’s character is Sabrina, the chauffeur’s daughter who has grown up watching the family and is dazzled by the charm of the very handsome David. After being ignored as the plain child of the “help” all her life, she returns from an extended time in Paris with all the style that a job as a photographer’s apprentice at Vogue might garner her. In short, the ugly duckling is now the swan.

Through a series of events (can’t give it all away!), Sabrina finds herself alone with Linus. Everything he does and says is driven by his life of corporate acquisitions and accumulation. Finally, she stops him and says this:

More isn’t always better, Linus. Sometimes it’s just more.

We may not be heads of massive companies with unlimited resources at our disposal, but we sure do live like that’s the ultimate pinnacle of success. If we only had more money, and more things, we say with our lives, THEN we’d be _________. You fill in the blank. Happy? Able to relax? Able to retire? Able to LIVE?

We’ve all heard this a hundred times; it’s not a new thought. But we continue to journey through our days with that as a major driving force. We have to make money to live, yes, but so often it’s the other way around. Our drive to accumulate bigger and better and newer and more never seems to stop…when is it ever enough?

At the end of the movie, Linus reconsiders his life and its focus, as Sabrina heads back to Paris where her soul is at peace. He weighs the importance of the temporary things of this life against the eternal things of the heart, and makes a decision. I won’t tell you what it is, but I will tell you he uses some old advice he got once to come to it.

More isn’t always better. Sometimes it’s just more. (Unless we’re talking about love, but, well, that’s not my point. Or is it?)

“Lust for money brings trouble and nothing but trouble. Going down that path, some lose their footing in the faith completely and live to regret it bitterly ever after.” 1 Timothy 6:10 MSG

“You can’t worship two gods at once. Loving one god, you’ll end up hating the other. Adoration of one feeds contempt for the other. You can’t worship God and Money both.” Matthew 6:24 MSG

“Don’t be obsessed with getting more material things. Be relaxed with what you have.” Hebrews 13:5 MSG

For the list of movies, go HERE.