Even as a senior citizen, I still love Veggie
Tales! When I babysat our granddaughter years ago, she and I loved to watch
Madame Blueberry and the Stuff Mart.
Although Madame had lots of good friends and a nice tree house, she was
still unhappy because she thought she needed more “stuff.”
Like Madame Blueberry, many people look at what others have:
a bigger house, a nicer car, better vacations, stylish clothes, new furniture,
and the list goes on and on. We want
them because we feel discontented, or bored.
We want them because we feel jealous, envious, or inferior to others who
have “more.” Learn why Madame Blueberry was so “blue.” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e2un3RWta_4
I Timothy 6:6 reads: “But godliness with contentment is
great gain; for we brought nothing into this world, and we can take nothing out
of it. But if we have food and clothing,
we will be content with that.”
And Hebrews 13:5 says, “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. So
we say with confidence, ‘The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?’”
Is it possible the reason we covet and are discontent is
because we’re afraid someone else will “get ahead” of us, receive more praise,
more approval from others? I believe the
Lord is saying, “Your value is not in what you have, but in who I say you
are.”
You may ask, “So you’re saying I shouldn’t care what house I
live in, what kind of clothes I have, or whether or not I have enough
money?” No, that’s not what I’m
saying. God created us to want to be
creative, invent things, and be a good care-taker of what He’s given us. I like what I read somewhere: we shouldn't be discontent to the point of being agitated or disquieted.
Sometimes I get the urge to buy new accessories for the
house because after six or seven years, I get tired of the “same old, same
old.” You ever been there? That’s when I have to ask myself, “Why do I
want to buy something new?” For me, I think that it's my creative side calls to me.
For example, I imagine what our master bedroom would look like with different curtains and bedspread. But then I remember the scripture about being
content with what I have, and I think of the many who wish they had a home—or
anything, for that matter. I start thanking God for what I already have, and the urge
to buy something new dissipates.
Instead, I look at my house and try to think how I could rearrange the furniture, or relocate wall art, candles, silk flowers
and greenery. Decorating for the seasons
helps satisfy my creative side, too. I
closed my Home Interiors & Gifts business in June of 2009, and I still had a
lot of things left from my stock. I had
an open house sale that year, gave a lot away, and kept just what fit
into a closet. I do love color, design
and creativity, and I don’t think Jesus is against that. In fact, He created us to want to improve our
environment, be creative and inventive. He
just doesn’t want our lives to be disquieted with wanting more and more “stuff”
for the sake of accumulation.
If we so choose, the simple things in life bring us joy and
contentment. Charles Dickens said,
“Cheerfulness and contentment are great beautifiers and are famous preservers
of youthful looks.” Madame Blueberry
certainly wasn’t nice to be around when she was sucked into Complaining Swamp
Contentment comes from learning to be thankful—not comparing ourselves to others or entertaining the green-eyed monster. Comparisons create feelings of stress, envy, jealousy, and resentment. So what if someone is smarter, cuter, has something nicer or bigger, or is approved by high society? Our worth does not depend on earthly, temporal things. As followers of Jesus Christ, our perspective must be on eternal values learned from God’s Word. I Timothy 6:17-18 tells us, “Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share.”
The Russian author, Leo Tolstoy, tells the story of a man
who was told he could have all the land he could walk around in one day, but he
had to be back at the starting point by sundown. The man walked for a long time, and thought
he’d better head back, but he kept saying, “Just a little bit farther,” and
kept walking to widen his territory. Finally,
he knew he had to head back, and he ran.
In the distance he saw his starting place, and in a burst of speed and
determination, he crossed the finish line just as the sun slipped behind the
hill. He fell to the ground, gasping for
breath, as blood gushed from his mouth and nose, and he died. In the end, the only land he needed was six
feet.
God bless you, dear reader!
All scriptures are from the NIV Bible.
Copyright ©2014 Elaine Beachy
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