Gear Junky

If I only had a bigger house, I would be happier.
If I only had a better cell phone, I'd be happier.
I cannot live without that outfit.
I need a bigger i-Pod, mine is full and doesn't have enough space.
If only my car were newer, I'd certainly be happier and safer.
If I just made more money, I could finally pay off some of this debt and then I could really give to God.
If I just had a computer...If I just had a mac...if I just had a laptop...if I just had an i-Pad.
If at just had a better budget at work...
If I just my own room...
If I just had more supporting parents...
If I was an only child...
If I just had...

We are a culture of bigger and better.
It is not enough to just have a cell phone, we have to have the latest greatest.  Problem is, the latest greatest changes about ever month...so we are always longing to have a new phone.
Our homes never seem big enough to hold all of our stuff...rather than throwing out the useless stuff we never use or even throwing out the useful stuff we simply just don't need...we just buy a bigger home.  So we can collect more stuff, to need a bigger home in a few years.
Our cars never seem good enough...
We never seem to have enough money...
There are always new little toys and trinkets that we just "Have to Have"!
We are a culture that thrives on bigger and better.  We are a culture that thrives on collecting things.
I once saw a shirt that said "He who has the most toys wins." 
We thrive on bigger and better.

I must admit, I fall into this trap more than many folks realize.
I'm a gear junky. 
If I've played a sport...I have the gear.
I have my own bowling ball...
I have a tennis bag that holds multiple rackets and even a ball hopper to pick up the 50 tennis balls I have.
I have football gear, basketball gear, even still have shin guards from playing soccer.
I have roller hockey gear...
I have ice hockey gear...
I have frisbee golf discs, ultimate frisbee discs and even a carrying bag for my frisbee golf disc...
I have a PFD (life jacket), helmet and paddle for whitewater rafting or canoeing...
I have a backpacking backpack and backpacking gear...
I have rock climbing gear...
I have enough camping gear and tents to take a small army out for a week...
I have enough tools to run my own construction company...
We won't even get into the number of instruments I have...

But the truth is, I am a gear junky.  Sadly, I could just keep listing gear that I have. 
I make up all kinds of great excuses as to why I need the stuff too.  I'm convincing as well. 
I mean, I need to have extra disc golf disc, what if I took a youth with me that didn't have any disc at all.
And we go rock climbing and whitewater rafting with the youth at least once a year or so.
And I HAVE to have ice hockey gear, I mean, I play about once every 5 years or so. 
And my tools...I mean, they do get used for 3 weeks on the mission trips in the summer. 

I'm making fun of myself, but it is a problem that many of us have.  We feel like, to really be happy, we just need this one thing.

It is a dangerous slippery slope.  The problem is, there will always be something greater out there.  There will always be something better out there. 
We'll always replace that one "thing" that we know we have to have to make us happy, with another "thing" that we have to have to make us happy. 
We often get to focused on what we do not have, and do not focus enough on what we do have.

Truth is, God can use us no matter what we have.
We would still have amazing youth mission trips even if I had no tools to bring.  Because people change people, not the tools.
Our youth ice skating trips would go just as well, if I had to pay the 6 dollars to rent skates.  Because people change people, not ice skates.

I think you catch my drift.  We all make excuses and think we cannot serve God because we need just that one thing. 

If this Holiday season, we would focus on Jesus, instead of all the things we don't have...I promise you that you will be happier than you have ever been before.
Some of you, your list would look a lot different...it wouldn't have any material things on the list.
Your list may be more like this...
If I only had different parents...
If my little brother would just quite annoying me...
If I was just 10 pounds lighter...
If my hair was just a different color...
If I just had friends that understood me...
If we would of just stayed home, instead of moving to this stupid town...

Whatever it may be, we all feel like there is something that is missing...something that if we could just change, our life would be better. 

I look at the Christmas story and realize that they had nothing Mary and Joseph probably thought they "had to have" to bring the Son of God. 
They were in a stall with dirty animals.
They didn't even have a bed to put Jesus in, they laid him in a feeding trough.
They were miles from home, with no doctor to help bring Jesus into the world.
Their first visitors were smelly shepherds.
Their other visitors (even though they probably didn't get there for a few years) were magi that brought stupid gifts for a child.  (Gold, Frankincense and Myrrh...we'll talk more about those in a few days)
I'm sure that this is not what Mary and Joseph imagined.
I'm sure if you asked them what they "had to have" to bring the Son of God into the world, none of that would have been on the list. 

But the focus of Jesus birth was not to be on what they had, the focus was to be on Jesus.  When they focused on Jesus, nothing else seemed to matter.

I've said it a thousand times while working with youth at church...When we focus on ourselves, we get in trouble.
When we focus on Jesus, things all seem to start falling into place.  That doesn't mean that everything in our lives are perfect, but some of those bumps in the road just don't seem as important. 
Find the JOY of this holiday season.  It is a cheesy expression, but one that helps me remember the "order" I should have in my life.
Jesus Others Yourself

If that truly was the way I ordered my life, I'd likely not feel the need to be a gear junky.