Magazine

This past week, my family went on a 24-hour road trip. We all squeezed our overly packed bags and selves into my mom's mini van, and set out for the highway.
Along the way, I pulled out my younger sister's magazine. On the cover of the August edition of Seventeen, a hefty slogan in bold type screamed, "Get Everything You Want This Year!" The neon orange letters captivated me, and I found myself drooling over pages filled with the latest fashions, make-up & hair tips, and relationship advice.
It's crazy how much our success-driven culture promotes materialism. Every advertisement, article, and photo seems to secretly say, "Your [apperance, house, car... whatever it may be], isn't good enough. It will never be good enough, until you buy this product. Then you will be truly happy."
In Seventeen, a magazine whose target audience is made up of 13 to 15-year-old teenage girls, almost every advertisement features a brand name fashion designer or make-up. These pages are silently tearing down the self-esteem of young girls. Thoughts such as, "I'm not pretty enough" or "No guy would every like me" race through their heads.
Trust me, I was at that stage. And I still catch myself falling for these lies.
Even as a Christian, it's easy to get caught up in the smartly crafted phrases that magazine editors marvel over. Their cunning is their bait, and we are easy to fall for it. Our greed puckers up and hastens us to rip through the slippery magazine pages until our eyes fall upon the article that tells us how to get everything we ever wanted.
So, how can we learn to defeat the greed that ignites when we read magazines, watch TV, or walk through stores?
First of all, when we give in to the cravings of our heart and buy everything we want, despair soon follows.

"But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction." (1 Timothy 6:9)

True joy and contentment can only come from the Lord.
When we follow the Lord's commandments, then and ONLY then can we find real happiness.

"The precepts of the Lord are right, giving joy to the heart." (Psalm 19:8)

Instead of following the world's ways and desiring after more and more, choose to live a life rooted in the Lord's goodness and mercy. He is Provider.

"And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus." (Philippians 4:19)

Here's the mind-blower: We don't need anything in this life besides the Lord.
When we firmly believe this and start making Him our number one priority, then He will start providing everything else we need.
What if you gave God your wallet and let Him spend it however He wanted to?
Instead of "Get Everything You Want This year!", get everything GOD wants this year.