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What’s the one luxury you can’t live without?

lux·u·ry

noun

the state of great comfort and extravagant living.”he lived a life of luxury”

Luxuries are a subjective commodity. For some people, a luxury could be a steaming jacuzzi on their patio. For others, it could be owning a house in a suburban neighborhood. And for many, it could be the chance of eating seafood for dinner. Luxuries could be things we take for granted, or even things we don’t even deserve. But most importantly, they should be something we can live without.

What Makes a Luxury by Ariel Barbera of The Gemini Valley Blog

There was something I wanted to say about this prompt that I couldn’t quite say…. My first reading this morning said it perfectly…. I I’m a big believer in NOT reinventing the wheel.. so thank you Ariel!

Each of the Luxuries I list below are things I HAVE lived without… but I really don’t want to. Read on!

I know this question is asking for just one luxury…but my day yesterday teed me up three… pretty perfectly… and they fit REALLY Well into these three categories.

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1. The Ice Breaker: The Physical Ammenity

So…I know this is what the question is actually looking for… and I have one. Air Conditioning.

Perhaps I should have called this one the heat breaker… or better yet the Sweat Breaker

I live in Florida and A/C is a practical necessity… that being said… I have lived without it. I COULD move north.

2. Deep: The Physical Person and Her Touch

Before you think I’m getting all kinky… I’m not. Last night both my wife and I just felt a bit empty… depleted. We couldn’t just go to sleep….

So what did we do? Again… not kinky. My wife groomed me to her hearts content. She gave me a manicure of sorts, then a pedicure of sorts… etc.

Nothing else would have done. I need this woman’s touch in my life. It’s actually kinda funny cause for her it is a compulsion. She must groom me. For me it is a compilation. I must be groomed. It works out well…..

Again, I’ve lived without this… but before her I was a mess of a man.

Every time I would ask for prayer to be free of addiction… my father figure/pastor friend would pray for my spouse. He knew I needed her in my life.

I COULD move away from her…. But I would not be ok. I need her in my life.

2. Deeper: The King and His Invitation

Let’s Get…. Deeper. If you have read ANYTHING I have written before you know that I take every opportunity to talk about Jesus. When I first started writing an answer to this prompt I thought it might be the exception…. I thought I would just be writing about AC…. And then I got a series of text messages right around midnight… I will spare you the details… but this conversation reminded me of the divine privilege I have been given to approach Gods throne in prayer.

In the past I have treated this as a luxury… I have treated this as optional…

Lately however… I cannot. I will DO anything to have this privilege. I desperately need His presence, more than I need my wife’s touch.

“Therefore let us draw near to the throne of grace with boldness, so that we may receive mercy and find grace for help in time of need.”
‭‭Hebrews‬ ‭4‬:‭16‬ ‭TLV‬‬

This is what I mean by I will do anything…

Most often it means humbling myself and asking others for forgiveness… or confessing my weakness to others and to God.

My mother-in-law is an amazing woman. She really is… but it can be difficult living with your mother in law. It can be even more difficult living with her dog.. who barks in high pitches.. and I’m sensitive to loud noises.

It is often a weekly occurrence that I have to apologize to her for getting super angry at her dog. Not because she demands it. She doesn’t. She usually looks at me weird, cause she understands why I’m mad…

But if I don’t do this… If I don’t address my anger leading to sin… I lose track of His presence.

To be clear…I’m not saying my sin prevents me from coming to Him. It doesn’t… His death on the cross and resurrection have taken care of that…Sometimes I have to sit with him for a LONG time before I am able to humble myself.

BUT if I want Him… If I really want Him (and I do) I have to allow Him to purge my darkness.

He IS LIGHT! In Him there is NO Darkness. No hatred. No corruption, no unrighteous anger… all His anger flows from love.

If I want Him.. I need to dwell in light too…..

So I COULD hold onto my darkness… BUT I really really don’t want to.

To me.. He is not a luxury… He is my necessity.

“If we say we have fellowship with Him and keep walking in the darkness, we are lying and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light as He Himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another and the blood of His Son Yeshua purifies us from all sin. If we say we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. If we say we have not sinned, we make Him a liar and His word is not in us.”
‭‭1 John‬ ‭1‬:‭6‬-‭10‬ ‭TLV‬‬

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