Consumed...

...with consumption.

I recently read a quote from retail analyst Victor Labeau

“Our enormously productive economy demands that we make consumption our way of life, that we convert the buying and use of goods into rituals, that we seek our spiritual satisfaction, our ego satisfaction, in consumption…we need things consumed, burned up, replaced and discarded at an ever-accelerating rate.”(said after World War 2)

I don't know about you, but that scares me. This quote is obviously very old, but you can look at our society today and see that they were successful in making this a realization in our lives. We are consumed with consuming. The words that scare me the most from that quote is that "we would seek our spiritual satisfaction...in consumption."

This may explain why there are 37 different iPod's for people to chose from. I don't know about you, but it's really tempting to find satisfaction in the aisles at Best Buy...the only problem is that it never lasts. At least, not in my life.

I think Jesus probably knew something about having genuine satisfaction that doesn't go away in a few days. I think the scene with the woman at the well (John 4:9-26) is far more applicable to us today than we realize. The only difference is today Jesus isn't hanging out at a watering hole. He's walking the aisles at Best Buy, Target, or any other retail store where people are seeking for satisfaction through the things they consume. Don't get me wrong, there's nothing sinful about shopping at Best Buy or Target. That isn't the point. The point is when we start to get our identity, our satisfaction through the things that we consume we are being consumed ourselved with consumption. It's a never ending cycle that only leads to unsatisfied, empty, shallow lives.

The real problem though is when we try to turn God into something that we consume, just like a new DVD player or flat screen tv. The Bible doesn't talk about us consuming God in that way...but it does say a quite a bit about thing things that can consume us.

What
consumes
you
?

peace,
glo