Now, on to the real reason I decided to finally open up Blogger again. Want.
This morning when I picked up my Bible, before I even opened it up, I felt my heart challenged in the area of want. I could easily come up with $30,000 worth of things that I want. The top of that list being a new car, a nice camera, and, for some wild random reason, a French Bulldog puppy. (Yeah, I know.) Without thinking twice about it I had allowed my heart to wander far from reality. I didn't guard my heart from want. Quite the opposite - I jumped on Pinterest and looked at just about every French Bulldog puppy I could find.
Our society encourages want. You can't watch TV without being pushed towards wanting something. Whether it's a new product, a better body, a new job, or even Pajama Jeans (which, as a side note look amazingly comfortable), we live in a society driven by consumerism. If we aren't intentional about guarding our hearts we can easily fall into a trap called want.
I believe that the root of wanting goes further than living as a consumer. I believe that want is rooted in a lack of thankfulness. Why do I want a new camera? Because I'm not thankful for the one that's on my phone. Why do I want a new car? Because I'm not thankful for my wonderfully reliable car and no car payment. Why do I want a puppy? Because they're cute.
When I opened my Bible today, I came across this Scripture:
"A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones." Proverbs 17:22
Now obviously this Scripture address much more than thankfulness, but it made me wonder... Which am I? The cheerful heart or the crushed spirit? Do I bring others joy or do I dry up bones? Even more, what do I bring to myself? Am I drying up my own bones due to a lack of joy? When we allow ourselves to be distracted by want, we are allowing ourselves to suck ourselves dry. Do you really want to cash your joy in for window shopping? Because that's what we're doing when we repetitively allow ourselves to want.
When I'm honest with myself the reason I allowed myself to get so deep into wanting is because I wasn't constantly realigning my heart with God's will in my life. My schedule at worked changed to working a lot of early mornings and before I knew it I'd gone weeks without cracking my Bible open. No bueno. When I stopped bringing my heart to Christ, when I stopped remembering the bigger picture, I started looking at puppies on the Internet. It's just that plain and simple.
The season of want (AKA Christmas) is right around the corner. Before we know it we'll be surrounded by adds and deals and we'll be shopping for someone else while wishing we could be shopping for ourselves. (You know it happens. Those deals are just too sweet to pass up.) Start preparing your heart now, before it's too late. Focus on thankfulness and the want will slowly melt away. Maybe not completely, but at least your heart won't be consumed by want. Because seriously, there's nothing healthy about looking at puppies on the Internet when you know you shouldn't get one.
"Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, "Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you." Hebrews 13:5
"Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where theives break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where theives do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." Matthew 6:19-21
