*Brandon actually has a truck, but it is broken and hasn't been running for about a year.
It is a great little car, and we are so blessed to have it. Most days, though, I am carless. Brandon drives the car to work early in the morning, and Asher and I are stuck at home.
Now, I'm not complaining. I know that having one car alone is a "want", not a "need". I love being at home with Asher, love that God has blessed us so much that I don't have to work outside the home and send him to daycare. It's just that sometimes, it gets lonely. And sometimes, I feel like I'm not being a good servant of Christ.
I feel like if I had the luxury of another vehicle, I could be serving more. I could be volunteering at the crisis pregnancy center, or at God's Food Pantry. I could be visiting lonely people in the church, or just visiting my family and unsaved friends. I could be doing more for the Kingdom.
But when I think about it, is that really true? First of all, if I had my dream car (minivan!:), how do I know that it wouldn't just sit empty in the driveway all day? I would probably still end up at home, not doing any of those wonderful Kingdom things. That's what I do anyways when I drop Brandon off at work, and have the car to myself all day. I have dreams of productive shopping trips and activities, but I end up getting carried away with something at home and basically wasting my "day of luxury" with the car.
More importantly, why am I not doing those things already? I may not have a motorized vehicle to transport me from my home to the other side of town, but I have a stroller that I can push down the road.
I have neighbors who need to be reached with the Gospel right here in my neighborhood, 300 feet from my door. I can be volunteering my time to help a friend down the road, or I can sit and listen to the grandma at the other end of my driveway talk about her family. I can even walk downtown and encounter others there, do ministry there.
Maybe this whole dream of a luxurious second vehicle is, in my situation, a covetous desire disguised in sincere motives (if they're even sincere at all).
For now, we have no need of a second vehicle. One is plenty. Sure, it would be nice to have the luxury of being able to go wherever I want, whenever I want. But even if we were to come upon the money to buy a second vehicle, it could definitely be put to better use: increasing our generosity, paying bills. I had been planning on creating a subaccount in our savings for a new-to-us second vehicle, but I think I'm going to scratch that idea for a while.
God has blessed us so much by giving us all that we need. Selfishly, I have coveted what others have, what I don't even need. I pray that I will find the secret of contentment, in times of plenty and in need, to be Christ Jesus (Philippians 4:12-13). He truly has supplied all of my needs according to His riches in glory. To our God be glory forever and ever! Amen.
What do you think? Do you consider something in your life to be a necessity when really it is a luxury?
