The Habit of Desire

This morning I read an interesting article over at Catalystspace.  The title was, “A Lifestyle Of Enough” by Eugene Cho.  In it he writes:

In our hope to honor a conviction of the Holy Spirit to give up a year’s salary, we had begun the two year process of saving, selling, and simplifying in 2007. Our goal was to come up with our then year’s wages of $68,000 – in order to launch One Day’s Wages. With only a few months left to come up with the total sum, we were a bit short and decided to sublet our home for couple months and asked some friends if we could stay with them on their couches or their guest room.

I still remember crying the night I told our kids of our plans. This wasn’t what I had signed up for; This was by far more difficult that I had imagined. Had I known, there is no way in Hades I would have agreed to this conviction.

This made me think about our habits of desiring more and more.  We live in a culture that screams the more you have the happier you’ll be.  Our culture bases success on how much you have, how many you manage, and how big of a salary you receive.  We are taught from a very young age that newer is better.  Just about every eight months a new edition of that ‘thing’ that you desperately longed for has come out.  Now it is mandatory that you have the newer version.  This is a marketing ploy, playing on the conditioned American response to long for more!

We easily form habits of desire.  The problem is that we are also a culture that does not celebrate in any form or fashion denying yourself anything.  It is no wonder that when our habits of desire meet up with our habits of satisfying our longings we end up in great financial ruin.  Our homes are feeling too small.  Our attics are buckling in the middle from all of the weight up there.  And our garages no longer house cars but extra stuff!

My wife and I watched a chick-flick the other night.  The romantic male character challenged the lead female to think about what she would grab if her home were on fire and she had 60 seconds to get out.

Pretty fair question if you ask me.

It makes me wonder if my desires and focus are in the right direction.  Believe me I like my toys and my luxuries like the rest of you.  I can’t wait for the iphone 5 to come out.  The problem lies right in front of us when our balance is off and we long for those things more than we long for Jesus.  Can we say along with Paul that we want to know Christ, and experience the mighty power that raised Him from the dead?  Do I want to suffer with Him, sharing in His death as Paul writes in Philippians 3:10?  Or am I more consumed with my expressions of wealth and comfort?

This is what the LORD says:  “Don’t let the wise boast in their wisdom, or the powerful boast in their power, or the rich boast in their riches.  But those who wish to boast should boast in this alone: that they truly know me and understand that I am the LORD who demonstrates unfailing love and who brings justice and righteousness to the earth, and that I delight in these things. I, the LORD, have spoken!

Jeremiah 9:23-24

It is time for our posture to change from that of comfort to that of a disciple’s.

So, what would you grab if your house was on fire and you had 60 seconds to do it?

~Peter