The Upgrade Mentality

"But strive first for the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. So do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring worries of its own. Today's trouble is enough for today."

Matthew 6:33-34

Recently during the morning news program, I noticed that many furniture stores had commercials running. I figured since the economy is so bad, people aren't shopping for furniture for the holidays like they used to, and the furniture stores are getting desperate. Offers for "no payments till 2012" flooded the screen, along with pictures of beautiful sofas, dining tables, and bedroom sets.

This got me thinking about my own living room furniture. We purchased our living room set a year and a half before we moved into our house, when we lived in our condo. The living room in the condo was smaller, so we bought fewer pieces. Since the furniture was new when we moved into the house, we weren't going to get rid of it even if the living room looked a little empty. Now, though, my furniture is almost 11 years old. Maybe it was time for a fresh new look. I began scouring the Internet looking and drooling over gorgeous modern pieces that made my furniture look so old and worn.

This morning it hit me. The media is always making us feel as though we're inadequate if we don't upgrade. Unless we have the latest in technology, and that means phones, computers, television and media equipment, and unless we've spent thousands of dollars bringing our home up-to-date, and unless we purchase new furniture every 5 years and revamp our wardrobe at least every six months, we will be miserable because we aren't enjoying a fully upgraded life. So we look around and feel like absolute failures if anything we own isn't following the current trend or the latest fad. We become depressed, and the only way out of that depression is to do what the media tells us, and upgrade.

The Lord reminded me of the verse in Matthew 6:33-34. He had me look at everything I have with different eyes. God has provided for my family this past year despite my being out of work. Not only has He provided what we need, He's gone and given us a bunch of what we want, too. Let's face it: our needs consist of food, water, clothing, and shelter. Anything more than that is icing on the cake. It's wants. No one dies for lack of a 60" flat screen TV. If you don't have all 10,000 channels on your cable or satellite network, you're not missing out. No one is less of a person just because they don't own the latest everything.

As I looked at my home, I realized every room is furnished with comfortable furnishings in good or very good condition. Each of us has a bed to sleep on (well, Mommy and Daddy share a bed, but it's a big one so we don't complain ;-). There's a large dining room table that's 10 years old, but it looks brand new and is large enough for family meals or family game night. We have sofas in two rooms, the living room and the family room, so we have plenty of seating for a family of 5. But what's most important in our home are the intangibles. We're healthy. We love being together as a family. There's joy in our home because the Holy Spirit is here with us, guiding and making sure we lack for nothing. We have peace in our home. We treat each other with kindness and work together to keep everything running smoothly (even the stuff that's outdated).

I was deeply convicted as the Lord showed me that I was being ungrateful. I'm thankful for all He has given us, even what the world or the media would say is worthless because it's old (not that 11 year old furniture is old). I'm thankful for His sacrifice, which provides me with more than a store ever could. I'm thankful that this life is not all there is, and that He is preparing a room for me in His Father's house. The furniture there will never grow old, or faded, or out-moded. The upgrade that Jesus offers is eternal life in heaven so long as we put Him first. Now that's an upgrade I'll trade everything in for.