Melody: I want a Big Mac!
Valerie: But, Mel, you're a vegetarian.
Melody: I know, but suddenly I want one!
(Josie & the Pussycats – 2001)
Nobody needs a Big Mac, especially a vegetarian. No one needs a Big Mac full stop. Particularly no one needs the 26.9 grams of fat, 35.1 grams of carbohydrates & 958 grams of sodium. But that doesn’t stop people from wanting a Big Mac, fries and a coke (but hey, I heard that if you order a diet coke, that makes it okay).
Need and want are two very separate things. We might all want a Big Mac, but what we all really need is some poached chicken breast, brown rice and lettuce with no marinade, dressing or salt. I want an Iphone, a trip to Europe, all 10 seasons of Happy Days on DVD, a 50’s Vintage Couture dress, a lifetimes supply of Carmen’s original fruit-free muesli bars, a 1st edition copy of ‘Jane Eyre’ by Charlotte Bronte, tickets to West Side Story and toilet made out of solid gold.
But do I need any of these things??? No!
Looking around my room, I don’t think I really need 95% of what I have. I certainly don’t need my DVD collection, all my clothes (I would however keep some, for the sake of the general populations eyeballs), the ‘Santa’ Mr. Potato Head I bought one Christmas working in the toy department at Myer, my scarf collection, the co-ordinating sheet sets and the various knick knacks I have lying around (including trolls, a game of yatzhee, throw cushions and a retro alarm clock). I could do away with everything but the bare essentials and still be one of the richest people on the planet.
What we want, often is not what is best for us. All 10 seasons of Happy Days on DVD and a lifetime supply of Carmens original fruit-free muesli bars will only leave me desolate, on the couch, requiring a crane to transport me to see West Side Story, depressed because I can’t fit into my 50’s Vintage Couture dress and having to purchase two airplane seats for my Europe trip so I don’t spill over onto my fellow passengers. The only thing I will be able to do is read my 1st edition copy of ‘Jane Eyre’ on my solid gold toilet whilst texting my friends from my Iphone.
So why am I afflicted with this desire of ‘want, want, want’? There are so many different things I want to happen in my life – but are these wants, these desires what I need??? Circumstances in my life have displayed to me recently that what I want, is not what I need. Moreover, the majority of the time what I want, is not what God wants for me and what God wants for me is what I need.
The above statement generates the following automated response ‘but how do I know what God wants for me?’. God wants us to live a life fully connected, fully reliant and fully alive in him and this is what we all need to live a contented life. He wants us to do as he instructs in Matthew 22:37-40: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbour as yourself.' All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”. Everything overflows from this, when God and others are our focus all other elements in our life come into alignment. He satisfies our needs and his wants become our wants.
Trust in the LORD and do good;
dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture.
Delight yourself in the LORD
and he will give you the desires of your heart.
Commit your way to the LORD;
trust in him and he will do this:
Psalm 37:3-5
Valerie: But, Mel, you're a vegetarian.
Melody: I know, but suddenly I want one!
(Josie & the Pussycats – 2001)
Nobody needs a Big Mac, especially a vegetarian. No one needs a Big Mac full stop. Particularly no one needs the 26.9 grams of fat, 35.1 grams of carbohydrates & 958 grams of sodium. But that doesn’t stop people from wanting a Big Mac, fries and a coke (but hey, I heard that if you order a diet coke, that makes it okay).
Need and want are two very separate things. We might all want a Big Mac, but what we all really need is some poached chicken breast, brown rice and lettuce with no marinade, dressing or salt. I want an Iphone, a trip to Europe, all 10 seasons of Happy Days on DVD, a 50’s Vintage Couture dress, a lifetimes supply of Carmen’s original fruit-free muesli bars, a 1st edition copy of ‘Jane Eyre’ by Charlotte Bronte, tickets to West Side Story and toilet made out of solid gold.
But do I need any of these things??? No!
Looking around my room, I don’t think I really need 95% of what I have. I certainly don’t need my DVD collection, all my clothes (I would however keep some, for the sake of the general populations eyeballs), the ‘Santa’ Mr. Potato Head I bought one Christmas working in the toy department at Myer, my scarf collection, the co-ordinating sheet sets and the various knick knacks I have lying around (including trolls, a game of yatzhee, throw cushions and a retro alarm clock). I could do away with everything but the bare essentials and still be one of the richest people on the planet.
What we want, often is not what is best for us. All 10 seasons of Happy Days on DVD and a lifetime supply of Carmens original fruit-free muesli bars will only leave me desolate, on the couch, requiring a crane to transport me to see West Side Story, depressed because I can’t fit into my 50’s Vintage Couture dress and having to purchase two airplane seats for my Europe trip so I don’t spill over onto my fellow passengers. The only thing I will be able to do is read my 1st edition copy of ‘Jane Eyre’ on my solid gold toilet whilst texting my friends from my Iphone.
So why am I afflicted with this desire of ‘want, want, want’? There are so many different things I want to happen in my life – but are these wants, these desires what I need??? Circumstances in my life have displayed to me recently that what I want, is not what I need. Moreover, the majority of the time what I want, is not what God wants for me and what God wants for me is what I need.
The above statement generates the following automated response ‘but how do I know what God wants for me?’. God wants us to live a life fully connected, fully reliant and fully alive in him and this is what we all need to live a contented life. He wants us to do as he instructs in Matthew 22:37-40: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbour as yourself.' All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”. Everything overflows from this, when God and others are our focus all other elements in our life come into alignment. He satisfies our needs and his wants become our wants.
Trust in the LORD and do good;
dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture.
Delight yourself in the LORD
and he will give you the desires of your heart.
Commit your way to the LORD;
trust in him and he will do this:
Psalm 37:3-5
I trust that God knows what I need more than I do, because, well, God is God and I am not and aren’t we all glad of that!!!
