Rash Priorities – 31 May 2006

Sometimes there is a big difference between what we want and what we really need. In the words of the Rolling Stones, “you can’t always get what you want”. 
What do we really want?:

-          to look good?

-          to feel secure financially?

-          to have nice things around us?

-          to be loved by everyone?

 

Which of these can be classified as needs?

 

Advertising equates happiness with having everything you want and looking as good as you possibly can. It is the business of turning our wants into “must haves”. The rise in popularity of “makeover TV” has given us garden, house, car and personal makeovers. Recently I saw a programme called “Bride and Grooming” where the bride and groom were separated for 3 weeks before their wedding so they could undergo a transformation to make them look younger, sexier and more attractive to each other. In the main this turned out to be cosmetic surgery - new teeth and breast enlargement, laser eye surgery and facelifts and nose jobs. Somewhere along the line I felt that they had lost the plot about the meaning and priorities for marriage. 

 

Sometimes we are guilty of misplaced priorities, we care more about appearance than true values, we are embarrassed to stand out from the world and be different. How hard it is to be in the world but not of the world.

 

Don't love the world or anything that belongs to the world. If you love the world, you cannot love the Father. Our foolish pride comes from this world, and so do our selfish desires and our desire to have everything we see.  None of this comes from the Father. The world and the desires it causes are disappearing. But if we obey God, we will live forever. 1 John 2:15-17 [CEV]

 

 

Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the worst. 1 Timothy1:15 [NIV]