Let's jump ahead a few months to November. Christmas is fast upon us, and you need to see what's "on sale." But when you open your newspaper, you notice something really different this week: there are no multipage circulars. All you see are one-page ads with no photos — only print and graphics! The J. C. Lusty ad grabs your attention, so you pull it out. It says:

Dear customer, at this Christmas season it's our sincere desire that you not be given to excess. Judging by our sales over the years, you probably have more things than you can reasonably use and enjoy. We suspect that you have apparel in your closet that you haven't even worn during the past year. Our earnest hope is for you to be con­tent with what you now have. How­ever, if you really need something, please remember that we're here, ready and able to serve you. In the meantime, we encourage you to spend your precious time with your family and friends. Don't waste it shopping. Remember that the Bible says we should "keep our lives free from the love of money and be content with what we have."

Not to be outdone, the Morestrom ad is a bit more attractive, with slick paper and inviting colors. It reminds us that Jesus said our lives do not consist in our possessions, even when we have an abundance. And More­strom goes on to encourage us to seek Jesus during this Christmas season, even as the wise men did.

Impossible? It certainly would be, unless there were a radical change in the values of the marketplace. Most retail advertising encourages discon­tent with what we now have, rather than contentment. It tries to seduce us with promises of "the good life."

The passage in Hebrews quoted in the J. C. Lusty ad says, "Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, 'Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you'" (Hebrews 13:5). This verse assumes that we probably already have some posses­sions with which to be content. Second, it assumes that God's covenant promise is important enough to us to overshadow our concerns for material things.

Does the command to "be content with what you have" prescribe a certain standard of living? Am I to be content with my circumstances no matter how deprived I am?

Some­times, that's our knee-jerk reaction because the worst-case scenario is the first thing we think of when we hear "with what you have." But most of us are not in desperate economic straits. In fact, many of us have a lot more than the basic "food and clothing" with which the apostle Paul was content (1 Timothy 6:8).

Being content with what we have should be the basic orientation of our consumption ethic because it assumes God's faithful care over us. Note also, this admonition is addressed to those who love money — those who would find their lasting treasure in the things of this age. But even if we don't regard ourselves as lovers of money, what we have will never bring contentment unless God's promise never to leave us controls our hearts. In other words, if Jesus is not enough, then the other things we have, or desire, will not satisfy us either.

How was your last "holiday season"? Did "the good life" make further inroads into your household, or are you richer toward God?