Christians know that material things are not their ultimate source of hope and joy. Vacations, a new car, some new clothes, or a dinner out should not be their primary source of fulfillment. However, some Christians have come to reject the material.
This works in many ways. Maybe they don’t take care of their stuff, because those are material things, not spiritual things. Maybe they look on people who have more stuff and decide they must be sinful because of their material possessions. Perhaps they don’t buy nice things because they see them as something that is not of God.
This is a pendulum swing, like many things people swing against. It is a condemnation of materialism but without a Biblical mindset. It understands rightly that God should be our ultimate source of joy. But it misunderstands that we can take joy in the material as long as those joys don’t outweigh our joy for God.
How can we know that God wants us to enjoy material things? Because God says that everything we have that is good is a gift (see James 1:17). Not only are they gifts, but they are from God. Gifts are not meant to be rejected but accepted; not only accepted but also enjoyed.
So our spouse, children, home, car, vacation, nice meal, coffee in the afternoon: all these things are not bad because God gave them. They are gifts that God blesses us with every day. If we see them as such, we can enjoy them.
We, of course, should never love the gift more than the Giver. We should never have more joy spending time with the gift than the One Who gave it. But if we enjoy God’s good gifts, we are enjoying our relationship with Him. We are blessing Him as He sees us enjoying our blessings from Him.
Think About It
Do you place material things ahead of God?
Do you swing the pendulum the other way and reject the material?
Or do you enjoy the gifts God has given you while ultimately finding the most joy in God, the giver of every gift?