If you want to feel rich, just count the things you have that money can't buy.

My name is Bethany, and it has been...5 days since my last posting? This is unacceptable. Now how do I choose just what to write about that happened over the past 5 days? Traffic court for expired tags? California Dreaming with sisters in Christ? Results of the job interview? The great teen devo? My atrociously dirty piece of metal on wheels? The new healthful lifestyle Kierra and I are taking on together? The LOST finale? Or maybe...all of these? Probably not, because I like to ramble a bit too much. ;)

Number one: Traffic court seemed intimidating to me before I went. I didn't know what to expect, but it was really nothing. The officer just called me up there, wrote something on my ticket, and told me to go pay $30 up front. The judge hadn't even gotten there yet.

There was a lady there who had a ticket for $89, and she told the officer she couldn't afford it that day. She needed 15 days to come up with it. This made me realize again how blessed I am. I am only a teenager without a job, and I could afford $89 if it was needed. I have so much wealth that I often forget how blessed I really am. My parents both have jobs and I have more than enough food to fuel me every day (which leads to the need for that healthy new lifestyle I mentioned). Though I am comparatively rich, I know many people who are even better off than I am. Their parents buy them everything they want, they have huge houses, expensive cars, every video game console I could ever want, 2 or 3 vacation houses on top of the one the usually live in, etc. Sometimes I look at them and think to myself, "I sure wish I had a house like that with 3 stories, 4 extra bedrooms, a pool in the backyard, a fancy dining table, a 100 inch television, etc." "I sure wish I didn't have to save up my own money to buy an iPod." "I sure wish we could afford to go on vacation to (insert destination here)." As appealing as material possessions may be, there are an abundance of Bible verses that warn against them. I just want to examine a few.

"Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, 'I will never leave you nor forsake you.'" ~Hebrews 13:5 (ESV)

All I need is God. God is all I need. I have to remind myself of this all the time. I start telling myself that I am lacking in some area of my life, but then I must wonder if that flaw really has any bearing on my eternal soul. If not, I do not have to time to worry about it. For example, I recently rearranged my closet by color only to realize...I do not have a single orange shirt!! What a tragedy! Honestly though, I don't need to make an emergency run to the mall to buy an orange shirt and make my wardrobe 'complete'. If that's the kind of attitude I have, I could make a million more reasons to go out and spend my money. I'll be okay without an orange shirt.

"And he said to them, 'Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.'" ~Luke 12:15 (ESV)

I have seen/heard of many parents who, instead of spending quality time with their children, they give them quality things. They try to buy their children's love and respect. "Life does not consist in the abundance of possessions." Having designer clothes and spectacular light fixtures neither gives us life nor happiness. I would rather live in a tiny house with a loving family than in a mansion with a broken family any day. I picture a house where nothing is ever said between occupants; it's kind of like a hotel. Everyone wakes up early in the morning and does their own thing. Parents go off to work and children catch the bus to school. Kids get home and go to their room where they do who knows what and parents come home, pop a TV dinner in the microwave, and go to sleep. Their is no encouragement going on, no love being shown, nothing being discussed. They may seem happy, and even begin to believe it themselves, because of the physical comforts they enjoy, but what they don't have is that emotional, spiritual stimulation that every human needs because the Lord put that desire in us.

"And others are the ones sown among thorns. They are those who hear the word, but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches and the desires for other things enter in and choke the word, and it proves unfruitful." ~Mark 4:18-19 (ESV)

Material things are deceitful. Deceit is one of the Devil's most successful tactics in drawing Christians away from the Faith and keeping non-Christians from ever being a part of it. He makes this world and the sins in it look so spectacular and beautiful and appetizing, but does not show us the part where we eternally lose our souls for a bit of physical enjoyment. Those "sown among thorns" hear the Truth, but are tricked into thinking that "riches and the desires for other things" are better/more important. In the end, though, "every knee shall bow" to God (Romans 14:11).

Of course, I am not saying that it is wrong to have material thing. There's nothing wrong with having a big house or a large TV or a Wii. The problem arises when one lets it rule their life instead of living for God. The problem comes when one is willing to work longer hours even if it means not having time left to spend with family just so they will have the money to buy that TV. The problem is present when saving up for an XBOX 360 cuts into the contribution one makes to the church or the money they are willing to spend to have someone over for dinner. The minute a person loses track of their priorities, there are a million things just waiting to jump higher and higher on the list that shouldn't be. The minute I put money before God, I have sinned.

"But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you." ~Matthew 6:33 (ESV)