things

You know, at this point in my life, I don't want quite as many things as I once did, but there is still much that I do want. Not all of the things that we want are "stuff"--we want good health, the best for our kids, maybe to live in a certain place. Those who know me well know that my wife and I love to travel, and I certainly want to travel more and more. There are still things that as a child of God I don't want to want, but God is working on that. For the most part, things I want are fairly harmless, but I can get preoccupied with them. When preoccupation becomes obsession, neither the thing nor the want of it is harmless anymore.

With some amusement, some time ago I realized that there are many things that I want that, were I handed the cash and told, "go buy that," I wouldn't! Certainly I now think differently about spending money that I earn (better, that God provides;) the Bible calls that stewardship. And that's the point: As I've grown, as God has grown me, I think differently. I focus on different things and on things differently than I used to.

This was brought to mind by a quote from Dietrich Bonhoeffer:

God does not give us everything we want, but He does fulfill all His promises . . . leading us along the best and straightest paths to Himself.

As I come to know God better and better, something I think about more and more are His promises, which make a most profound statement about His character and the depth of His love for us. That cuts the wants of this world down to size and makes every day a wonderful new adventure worth getting up for.