infomercials...

so i was sitting in my parent's living room the other day when an infomercial came on tv. i love infomercials! i was instantly drawn to this item. by the end of the commercial i found myself wanting to buy this item. my mom agreed. she kind of wanted it too! what was it?? the "Caulk Away- Caulk Rite Kit". now i'm sure i know what you are thinking.. "jamie, seriously, when was the last time you caulked anything in your life? or what in your house even needs caulking right now?" some people don't even know what caulking is! you know, it's the soft, white stuff in between the tiles in your bathroom! my mom and i laughed at the fact that the infomercial totally made us feel like we wanted and even needed this item, when the truth is, neither of us needed or would even use it if we had it!  

so then i thought about how many times a day this happens to me. so i tried to keep track. throughout the day, i was also convinced that i "needed" a new car, an iPhone, a vacation, and even this towel that supposedly holds like gallons of water! ridiculous.  once aware of my "need" of all these things, i suddenly heard this question loud and clear in my head, "how often do i think, 'i really just need more Jesus.' ?"  much more often i am thinking, "i really just need an iPhone."  

why can't i just be content with Jesus? why do i need more things that will only crowd my life? why am i jealous of people who have nice things but do not have Jesus? 

i recently listened to a sermon on 1 timothy 6.6. the verse states "but godliness actually is a means of great gain when accompanied with contentment."     so godliness + contentment = great gain.    the opposite of contentment = covetousness.   when we covet we say "God, you are not enough!"  

how shallow am i to think that such things in life as a new house, new car, more money, etc. will make me more happy than Jesus?!  a house is nothing more than some concrete, wood and bricks. so what if some are bigger than others? a car is nothing more than a huge piece of metal. so what if some are prettier than others? money is mere paper. so what if you have more paper than i do?  Jesus is everything.  He is the only reason my lungs work at this very moment. it has nothing to do with where i live or what number is in my bank account. i have Jesus. end of story.

"When we are discontent in where God has us, we are displaying our lack of faith in Him."