Wednesday, December 26, 2012

Shiny New Toys!!!


Lord knows I have loved the Christmas holiday since I was a little girl. But now being the mother of 3 and having 2 nephews all between the ages of 8 and 3 to buy for Christmas has become quite stressful. "Toys Toys Toys" has been the main thing playing in my head for the last month. I try to enjoy the season, the cheer and most of all the celebration of the birth of my Lord and Savior but I'll admit it gets clouded with compulsion of consumerism.

Thankfully with the kids I buy for they seem to be impressed with how much they have and how shiny it is instead of what it is exactly. For example, they are all young enough to be impressed with lots of cheap shiny gifts under the tree that make it look grand and impressive than a couple really expensive gifts that may make the scene look less impressive. And these less expensive gifts might entertain them for awhile but ultimately they will grow tired of them.

However, as children get older they learn the importance of quality over quantity. They prefer a gaming system or a new computer to multiple less expensive gifts. They are no longer distracted by the shine, they want something that will last longer and they can do more with. (It's time to start teaching my kids that consumerism is wrong and that we just need to be together for Christmas instead of buying gifts) :)

In 1 Corinthians 13:11, it reads "When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me." As Christians on our walk with Christ, especially in the beginning, as we are learning the way, we might be impressed by charismatic preachers or enjoy music that are good to the ears but ultimately empty and meant for show and not helping us grow. We might be drawn to churches with the largest attendance assuming that they are doing the most for the Lord. But as we "grow up" in Christ, we learn to prefer substance over the shine. We will learn to see past the show and prefer things that will outlast this world and this life and usher us into the next. 

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