Food and “covering” (clothing and shelter) are basic needs; if we lose them, we lose the ability to obtain other things. A miser without food would starve to death counting his money. I am reminded of the simple-living Quaker who was watching his new neighbor move in, with all the furnishings and expensive “toys” that “successful” people collect. The Quaker finally went over to his new neighbor and said, “Neighbor, if ever thou dost need anything, come to see me, and I will tell thee how to get along without it.” Henry David Thoreau reminded us that a man is wealthy in proportion to the number of things he can afford to do without.

The economic and energy crises that the world faces will probably be used by God to encourage people to simplify their lives. Too many of us know the “price of everything and the value of nothing.” We are so glutted with luxuries that we have forgotten how to enjoy our necessities.

Wealth does not bring contentment and is not lasting. Marilyn Monroe once told a friend that hers was a lonely existence. “Did you ever feel lonely in a room by yourself? I have forty rooms, and I’m forty times as lonely.”
A mansion does not bring happiness. Only living for Christ does.

From the Word: “For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction” (1 Timothy 6:7-8, NIV).
Also read: Proverbs 10:2, 22; 11:4; 13:7; 23:4-5; Matthew 6:19-21.

Action assignment: List things you have that you feel are necessities. Thank God for them.