What is the main motivation in our materialistic time?
In our materialistic time, the main motivation is material advancement—about 90% of motivation. People want it better than the last generation and want their children to have more than they had. But this shows misplaced priorities; believers are called to live for God's praise, not material gain.
Les teaches that we are living in a time of materialism, and he supposes that 90% of motivation among all of us is material advancing. We want it better than the last generation, and we want our kids to have it better than we had it. But he stresses that we have our priorities wrong—all of us have our priorities wrong. The things that count the most, as the Lord Jesus Himself put it in His earthly ministry, are captured in the words “seek ye first...” The context also explains that at the end of time when the Lord comes, He will make manifest the counsels of the heart, an area only God can see. That manifesting is like a microscope slide when the bright light beneath it is turned on, making visible what was invisible. There is coming a time when the sharp light of God’s knowledge will penetrate even into the very hearts of our being, and every believer will have praise of God. That is what we are to live for. So while material advancement dominates motivation today, it reflects misplaced priorities; believers should live for God’s praise.