I'm not really much of a shopper. Well, my wife would say that I am nothing like a shopper. In fact, it drains me physically, mentally, and emotionally. I hate it.
Last night, I was out with the kids looking for something to do so I thought we should go to a department store and I would do some Christmas scouting. Note that I said "scouting", not shopping. This is what I call just getting an idea of what you might want to buy when Christmas does come. This way you don't have to do any shopping. This way you can go Christmas hunting--you know, you already know what you want so you go and get it.
Needless to say, it seems that it's been a long time since I've been in any store where you can buy anything besides food. I couldn't believe all the cool stuff that I suddenly had to have. Everything I saw was bigger, better, brighter, cooler, faster, newer, updated, slicker, smoother, tougher, longer-lasting, fresher, larger, quicker, shinier, and I just had to have it.
I know that these stores spend millions of dollars researching how to make all these products attractive and make them appeal to me to spend my money on them, I can't believe it worked. There was part of me that wanted to buy that stuff without really thinking about whether or not I needed it. The thing that really stopped me was that I knew I didn't have the money for all that stuff; but I can also see why people can get so deep into debt on their credit cards. My advice to them: STAY OUT OF THE STORE! You don't really need any of that stuff but it sure looks good, sitting there on the shelf with the huge features and the small price tag.
I am again reminded of what Jesus says in Luke, "man's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions". That is something that I am incredibly grateful for.
