In the area where we live, we have to be hooked up to cable TV to get any TV reception at all. For me one of the best parts about that is that we get the Home and Garden channel—HGTV. It may be called something else in your area, but you probably have a similar channel. I love enjoying the creativity of people who design beautiful landscaping and choose lovely colors and decor for their homes.

One of the programs carried on this channel, however, especially caught my attention. It’s called “I Want That!” The program features new inventions for the home—all the latest gizmos and appliances. I had to laugh when I first heard the name of the show because I recognized that the producers had latched on to a very human trait. We all tend to want the latest and the best of everything whether we need it or not. This human characteristic reminded me of something Richard Foster wrote in his classic book Freedom of Simplicity:

When taken as a whole, the media commercials constitute a world view, a rival religious philosophy about what constitutes blessedness. We are told by television that the most idiotic things will make us insanely happy. The purpose of all this media bombardment is to increase desire. The plan is to change “That’s extravagant” into “That would be nice to have,” and then into “I really need that,” and finally into “I’ve got to have it!”[1]

Yes, like Eve, who saw the beautiful fruit on the tree, I find it easy to say, “I want that!” But the Apostle Paul reminds us, “Be content with what you have, because God has said, ‘Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you’ ” (Hebrews 13:5).

It’s true–when we know we have God and that He will never leave us, we have the most important possession in the world—really, the only one that matters.

[1] Richard Foster, Freedom of Simplicity (Aylesbury, Bucks, UK: Hazell Watson & Viney Ltd., 1981), 114-115.

What have you said, ‘No’ to recently and were okay with not having to have it?