All I want for Christmas is…

This year I’m not asking for much. We’re going to tone things back. Just get me a nice pair of socks. You know the fancy kind with lots of patterns. Maybe more than one set. And it would be nice if I got a sweater as well. Oh, I could use some accessories for my truck. A new side rail, seat covers, bed liner… it might just be easier to get a new truck. A recliner might be nice. One of those movie theater ones with the electronic adjustment with the cup holder and the place to charge your phone. Well if I got a place to charge the phone, I might need a new phone as well. But not the newest model, I’m not greedy.

Ah, the creep of materialism. Maybe we notice more this time of year but it’s a struggle we all face. In a country as blessed as ours, it’s sad that it never seems like enough. We constantly want and get more stuff, thinking it will bring us joy. And it does… for a bit. Then we see something else, someone gets something better and the pulls start over again.

Then He said to them, "Beware, and be on your guard against every form of greed; for not even when one has an abundance does his life consist of his possessions."

Luke 12:15

If we are counting on things to make us happy, we are never going to be happy for very long. As Solomon said in Ecclesiastes 5:10-11, “He who loves money will not be satisfied with money, nor he who loves abundance with its income. This too is vanity. When good things increase, those who consume them increase.” If we think about it, really think about it we have gotten everything we should truly want.

A God who loves us. A Savior who came for us. A family of believers who encourage us. Food. Clothing. Shelter. Friends. Family. These gifts from God, these blessing he bestows are truly the things that we need. And he freely gives them.

When you think about it, we are already getting all we would ever want!

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