Parents will soon be Christmas shopping with their children, and as they peruse the toy aisle, you will hear the inevitable, “I need that!” Advertisers promote the latest toys and electronic gadgets in a barrage of commercials with the goal of convincing us that if we buy that product, we will be happy and life will be good! With my own children, I tried emphasizing that you “don’t need it, you want it.” I think that’s an important distinction we all need to make.

It’s not just children who have trouble distinguishing what is a “want” versus what is a “need.” If you remember, King Ahab wanted Naboth’s vineyard (1 Kings 21:1-16). When he couldn’t have it, he went to his bed “sullen” and he wouldn’t eat anything. He pouted to the point that his wife told him to get up, get some food, and start acting like a king! She told him she would get the vineyard for him. And she did, through lying and murder!

What about us? We go to church and sing, “Count your blessings, name them one by one and it will surprise you what the Lord has done” and then we go home complaining.  We compare ourselves to others who have the material things we want to have or who look like we want to look or have the life we aspire to have. We go into debt for things we can’t afford trying to fill the void that those things can’t fill.

Maybe it isn’t the new house, the new clothes, or the newest gadgets we need, but rather new eyes through which to see what we already have. As an adult, when we see a child in a store throwing a tantrum because his parent isn’t buying him what he wants, we often think, “how ungrateful?”

While we (hopefully) aren’t throwing a fit like a child or like Ahab, I wonder how God must look at us when He has blessed us over and over again, and we are never satisfied. Our complaining, dissatisfaction, and constant desire for more are the ultimate displays of ingratitude for the tremendous blessings we’ve been given.

Here are some things that God says on the matter:

• Be content with what you have (1 Timothy 6:8, Hebrews 13:5).
• Physical beauty is vain and won’t last long (Proverbs 31:30).
• Comparing yourself with others is not wise (2 Corinthians 10:12).
• We don’t need the approval of others (Galatians 1:10).
• Life is about much more than our “stuff” (Luke 12:15).
• Don’t trust in your things, because it can be gone a moment (1 Timothy 6:17, Matthew 6:19-21).
• We can’t take it with us (1 Timothy 6:7).
• If you put God first, you will be given what you really need (Matthew 6:33).
• Give thanks for what you do have (1 Thessalonians 5:18, Ephesians 5:20).
• Stop complaining (Philippians 2:14).
• Contentment can be learned (Philippians 4:11-13).
• Fearing the Lord leads to contentment (Proverbs 19:23)
• Godliness with contentment is great gain (1 Timothy 6:6-12).
• Contentment comes through obedience and service to God (Job 36:11)

With God as our Father and everything we have coming from Him (James 1:17), let’s not be ungrateful children, never satisfied, and always demanding more. Let’s give thanks for what we have and count our blessings. It really will surprise us at what the Lord has done!