This Christmas my family had the blessing of visiting my sister’s family in their home in North Carolina. It is truly God’s extravagant love and grace towards us that my sister’s family and mine share many commonalities. She is my big sister and has been one of the greatest role models in my adult life. Besides her oldest child, our 3 children are within 6 months in age of hers. Her oldest two have birthdays the same months as my oldest two and both our oldest are 17 months apart. We both have adoptive african-american daughters. This is just some of the ways our lives parallel one another and we are able to support one another easily.
While together last week our 5 years old played non-stop together, mostly babies and doll house. It was fun listening in on their conversations. One of those moments caused me to think more deeply about sinful nature and how universal it is. Let me give some context. I live in Wisconsin in a ranch style house with a walk out basement. My sister lives in a large farm house style house with an upstairs. The girls were talking about how they wished they lived in each others houses. My daughter stated, “I like your house better than mine because I like your upstairs!” Then my niece stated, “I want your house because you have a basement!” The conversation came up other times as well with my daughter saying she wanted their house because they had a two-stall garage and her cousin saying she wanted our house because it has snow.
This innocent conversation got me thinking about my thoughts as a grown adult and the conversations I have had over the years about the have not’s in my life or other’s lives. It seems we, more often than not, want what we do not have. We seem to be quickly disenchanted by what we have once we look at what others have. And this is not the way of the Lord and not the way of joy. The Bible states it many times. “Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for He hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.” Hebrews 13:5
“I know how to get along with humble means, and I also know how to live in prosperity; in any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” Philippians 4:12-13.
I want to seek the Lord and let Him fill me up so that I can be content with what he has given me. I want to be able to model to my children what it looks like to live with gratitude. I want my children to be able to resist the temptation covet what they do not have. I pray that those precious 5 years olds will grow up to be a light for the ways of Truth in this greedy and coveting world.
