You Are All I Need

1 John 2:15-17 (NIV)
  Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
  For everything in the world--the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does--comes not from the Father but from the world.
  The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever.

Do you enjoy shopping?  Do you like to go to the mall and just look around and dream?  Is it enjoyable to spend money, to find that object that is going to make like easier or more fun and buy it. I have to admit, I hate to go to the mall or any other store and shop. But I love to go online, perhaps use Groupon and find an exciting deal.

Shopping a form of materialism, is worldliness; it is external behavior. The world is a material place filled with people we must be seen with, places we have to visit and activities we simply have to take part in. These worldly endeavors can get us into trouble; they can be transformed into a financial crisis. Worldliness is internal too. It is a heart issue characterized by our craving for physical pleasure, a preoccupation with gratification.

We get ourselves to the point of wanting everything we see and it becomes more and more difficult to be happy without having to purchase more and more stuff. We become slave to things, to the god of materialism. This is the way the serpent tempted Eve in Genesis 3:6. "When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it.

Peace comes when we reach the place in life where 'things' are nice to have, but they don't define me. They make no difference in my happiness or contentment. If I don't own the biggest, best, newest, I will survive easily. This type of attitude comes with Spiritual maturity. When we cease striving after everything we see, we find peace and contentment.  It is a good place to live.

1 John 2:15-26