Stuff, Stuff, & More Stuff

Are you beginning to feel the pressure of the holiday season? How are you going to juggle the 3 Thanksgiving dinners you are supposed to attend? Can I survive Black Friday again? Should I get that person a gift or not? What if "so & so" gets me a gift & I don't have one for them? Decorations, wish lists, parties, parades... the list just goes on and on.

What in the world are we doing?! Sometimes I think God must look at us & just shake his head. We have become so focused on STUFF, STUFF, & MORE STUFF that it consumes our lives. Over the past few months the Lord has been showing me the insignificance of the things of this world. Our society in America is consumed by materialism. We are bombarded by stuff. Most of the channels on my TV are shopping channels. We go shopping just for fun. We buy stuff just because want more- not because NEED it. Sure, we convince ourselves that we need it. "Oh, I NEED a new shirt. I NEED a new car. I NEED to redecorate my house." There is a big difference in needs & wants. A need is something you have to have (air). A want is something you would like to have (a new Ipad).

The Lord has been teaching me about the importance of being content. The definition of being content is living in a state of peaceful happiness. Wow! That's a mouthful. Finding your joy and peace in Christ instead of stuff is what we are supposed to be doing. The apostle Paul new what it was like to have riches.  He came from a prominent family and gave up everything to follow Jesus. In Philippians chapter 4 verses 11-13 he says, " Not that I was ever in need, for I have learned how to be content with whatever I have. I know how to live on almost nothing or with everything. I have learned the secret of living in every situation, whether it is with a full stomach or empty, with plenty or little. For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength." 

I'm asking the Lord to help me be content with whatever I have and to be thankful for it. I've learned that thinking I "need more" all the time is sin. It so obvious but we have become conditioned to want more. Satan convinces us to desire the created instead of the Creator. We see this from the very beginning. Adam & Eve had everything they needed- a beautiful garden, the ultimate relationship with Almighty God. They could eat of every tree in the garden except for one. Just imagine what all they had but Satan got them to focus on the one thing they didn't! Look what that got us! We do the same thing today. I'm ashamed to admit this but I often find myself relating how much God loves me based on what I have. I look at people that I think have more "stuff" than me and think to myself, "Hmm, God must love them more..." That breaks my heart to admit it & I'm sure it breaks God's too. I pray that He will help me begin to take joy in knowing that He provides exactly what I need in every way. I pray that I will look at every aspect of my life and view it as a tool of God to make me more like Him.

The Bible says in Proverbs that the rich rule over the poor and the borrower is a slave to the lender.  So many of us are slaves to Visa, Mastercard, Walmart, etc. I say that with a little laugh but it is so very true. We live to work so that we can pay our bills so that we can get more stuff. I want  to be a slave of Christ's for that is when I am truly free. Being focused on the needs of others instead of my selfish wants. Loving as Jesus loved instead of loving this world. Building up treasures in heaven instead of building up things that will pass away. That is what I long for...

I say all this to encourage you to keep the important things in mind as you prepare for this holiday season. We celebrate Thanksgiving but are we truly thankful for what we have? Are you truly content? We say that we are celebrating the birth of the Savior of the world- the day when God became flesh & dwelt among us but are we really just celebrating getting more stuff???

Just a little something to think about...