Life Hack #6 - But I Want It

Life Hack #6:

Do you ever watch those "do it yourself" remodeling programs? They have so many inspiring ways to do the hard work, often at a fraction of the cost of having someone else do it. I don't tackle many of those projects myself because I don't possess the know-how or muscle, but I time to do them. I "want" the nice back splash, shiny new vanity, and hardwood floors, but I won't be "doing" the work! Do you ever struggle with wanting what the "rich and famous" seem to have at their disposal? Or maybe just seeing someone who seems to have a little better home, car, or wardrobe than you do? You get all these ideas in your head about how "nice" all their "amenities" are, and you forget how absolutely blessed you already are! "Life Hack #6" is to be content with what we have so much of already.

When you go out to dinner with an influential person, mind your manners: Don’t gobble your food, don’t talk with your mouth full. And don’t stuff yourself; bridle your appetite. (Proverbs 23:1-3)

Do not desire what others of "fortune" or "position" or "fame" possess, because these "things" are often quite deceptive. Even the neighbor next door who does a little better than we do with income, is able to amass a few more "toys" in their garage and is able to set off on ventures here and there - they may be someone we come to envy. Why is we struggle when we see what others have, lured in by the deception of "having"? It might just link back to the first sin recorded - the eyes being a window where we "take in" and then begin to consider what it is that has been declared to be out of reach for us right now. Seeing is the beginning of wanting - when we dwell upon what it is we have seen, we begin to form a desire to obtain what it is we have seen.

The eyes behold - the mind begins to unfold the possibilities - the heart directs the hands to reach out in order to take hold. We are not to crave the delicacies set out by the "rich" or "famous". The reason is that what is set out before us is deceptive - there is no real knowledge of how much bondage has occurred in order to actually provide obtain those things! Kings used to overtake other nations, placing their people into captivity - making them work their lands and ranches for the benefit of the conquering king's coffers and storehouses. The king's profit came at the back-breaking labor of those he put into captivity - bondage for them meant increasing benefit for him. To desire what brings bondage is not something we want to be engaged in, is it?

Our eyes "see" a great deal - but not all we see is meant to become ours in the end. We need wisdom in discerning those things which might bring bondage into our lives - bondage of any sort can be introduced by little more than considering with the "eye" what may look nice but be declared as "off limits" for us right now. Be very, very careful with what you see and then pursue without really thinking about it. The wisest thing we can do is 'consider' those things at the foot of the cross - then leave behind what God has not planned for us to 'have' at this moment - remembering all we have been given in the 'right now'. Just sayin!