Treasure In Heaven by Erica De La Cruz
I wouldn’t call myself a tech/gadget addict, but I’ve come pretty close in recent times (that is probably what a gadget addict would say too). I’ve always been interested in the fast–paced, ever-changing technology world, whether it be computers, cellular phones, or even medical technological advances.
But particularly I never thought I would get caught up in the cell phone or smart phone craze. For one, I am pretty sure I was the last among my friends to even get a cell phone (got my very first one in college!). But for some reason, over time, it wasn’t enough anymore to just have a cell phone.
I didn’t want the phone that everybody else had; I wanted better, to be a step ahead everybody else. I wanted the newest, fastest processing, fastest downloading phone. And so began my snowballing material pursuit. I became increasingly fixated on the latest headlines in the tech news.
I couldn’t get enough about companies announcing their latest products and all their features. The amount of time I spent researching about cell phones, smart phones, etc., I could have probably been more productive in other ways. But I was hooked.
Quite frankly, I can say this now; I could be compared to a druggie just trying to feed a habit or fix: I was no longer buying phones just for the joy of it, but because it became so necessary to me. Of course, at the time, I didn’t realize that there was anything wrong with what I was doing. In retrospect, I realize now that I spent an embarrassing amount of money, and too much time preoccupying myself with nonsense. The time and money I wasted I can’t get back, but it was something I got myself into and I had to go through it in order to learn something. I continued to look for the next best thing, and compare the phone I had with newer ones coming out.
My habits hadn’t really changed much yet. But last summer, my grandma became ill and, although she recovered, her health was still increasingly frail. My mom, having not seen my grandma in years, decided that we as a family would go and visit her. My parents are from the Philippines, and although it is considered as one of many developing economies, it still has its share of poverty. Thankfully, we were able to witness some of it. My mom’s family still lives in the same town where she grew up; it’s more rural, with plenty of rice fields, compared to big cities like Manila capital, for example.
I remember one day my uncle rode us through a stretch of the road just outside of their town and I was overcome with wonder as to how people could actually live in conditions like that (there are many, many nice areas in the Philippines too, but areas like the following are, unfortunately, realities). “Houses,” some made of just metal sheets slapped together, were juxtaposed together along the road. And families of more than three or four lived inside these shelters. There are people there who can’t buy certain food items at the market, things we take for granted, because they have to choose between either that item that will last one, maybe two days, or a sack of rice that will suffice their needs much longer.
What struck me most about our trip was that people there seemed to live much more simply and seemed to be okay with it. Some had close to nothing and went about their day as if they had everything. Just from observing, one could sense that there was happiness and contentment just by being among family, having a meal with friends, having enough food, enough crops, and a roof over their heads. Everyone has a cell phone there, but the attitude and culture towards the device is an eye-opening contrast to what we are fed in say the “Western” culture.
My eyes were opened over there, and I came to see that happiness doesn’t come from having the latest smart phone or other gadgets. True happiness comes from being content with whatever God has given you, whether it is a little or a lot. A verse that kept coming to mind after returning home from our trip is found in I Timothy 6:8: “But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that.” Really our attitude should be one of gratefulness to God for supplying just those basic needs.
That is where I slipped up in my material pursuit. I had forgotten about what God had already provided for me and had fallen into the trap of wanting more and more. Please don’t misunderstand my message as a proclamation that all smart phones and other techy gadgets are evil or something. That is not my intent at all. These things are a part of life, and the devices themselves are not wrong. But when they, or even anything else, become all you think about or all you strive for then that is a problem. It is really a matter of self-control paired with a heavy dose of prayer and Bible study.
In Colossians 3:2 Paul writes, “Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.” When we learn to change our thinking, only then can we move forward. We need to replace our desires and wants with God’s desires and wants for us. We can then focus less inward on ourselves and more outward to others. As Ephesians 4:22-24 states, “You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.” Let God transform you. Ask Him to put the right desires in your heart, and then you can have the mindset to lay up treasures in heaven instead of here on earth.
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