With advertising bill boards on every road we drive, enticing tv commercials, flash ads popping up on our computer screens and our cell phone ringing, we can hardly escape being affected or lulled into purchasing the latest and greatest of everything these days. How can we avoid buying a new gadget because it has one or two new features on it that we really don’t need? How can we convince ourselves that we really shouldn’t purchase on credit because of the financial strain and extra time that will be devoted to the new thing?
Gone are the days when advertising was limited to print that we chose to read. Coupons are about all that people get out of the newspaper anymore. TV shows like Little House on the Prairie can bring to mind the innocence and simplicity of life with family values, hard work and love. Since that may sound ridiculous right now, what is the point? Well, what kind of feeling does this kind of tv show conjure up in your mind?
We could choose to live like some of the Menonites. They refuse to accept the control of modern day living and are disciplined to avoid the “sin” of modern day technology. They live without the tv, internet and radio in most cases. The only advertisements they actually see will be through a newspaper or when they use a horse and buggy to go into town to get necessary items for the family. Perhaps looking into their lifestyle can give a few clues as to the benefits they receive and the affects of their disciplined spending habits.
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Our modern day society has been described as a “rat race.” It seems like we are stressed out every single day of our lives? How can we get out of it? How can we live in the modern day society and avoid the stressful living that comes from being controlled by debt, things and gadgets and avoid getting into more debt? How can we stop running in circles?
The truth is we have to look at the big picture and make a decision about how we want to feel. We need to be serious about wanting to take control of our life and choose not to be controlled by advertisements and the selfish feelings of entertainment in our spare time in the form of violent video games, a degraded focus on sexual perversions and other mundane activities that center on self like the rest of the world. What are the benefits of this?
Perhaps God himself really knows what brings true happiness. Could considering the golden rule of there being more happiness in giving rather than receiving possibly be right? What if you could ask people that have taken control of their life how they feel? How they find happiness in simple living, the sounds of birds, the sunset, their family and in keeping their life as stress free as possible? Some have finally realized that living for self really is an unhappy existence. Some have decided to stop and look and smell the roses a little while longer to figure this out and change their stressed up lives.
Go to the park and watch people that are truly enjoying themselves. Go to a lake and observe the quiet fisherman and ask him why he is happy. Observe a happy family that has traveled into the mountains to “get away.” Why do some people look forward to doing these simple things and others do not? Why is it that some people do truly enjoy Gods works of creation? The answer is simple. God, who created people, really knows what can make us happy. Like a parent that knows more than a child, God knows and has our best interests at heart. But if we choose to make our own happiness, the chances are the world and all its selfishness and greed will make sure we feel stressed out and miserable. Listen to what God has to say. He has the answers in the bible.
