What I really need?

It's a question which we ask ourselves a hundred times a day in subtle ways, what is it I really need? It's what the advertisers seek to answer for us; what you really need is a new car, or a plasma TV, or a PS3.

What we all think we really need is what we desire, what we crave. The challenge is to mould our cravings in the light of what the Bible says. There are both good and bad cravings, the Lord's prayer is a means of reminding ourselves that we should crave what God craves "your kingdom come".

But that is a battle. Maybe that's why one of the most consistent images of the Christian life in the Epistles is that of a battle. A battle in which we stand with, alongside, in support of one another. The church is the barracks room where the soldiers help each other prepare for battle and engage with the enemy. A vital part of that is our need to engage with each other and be accountable to each other, moulding each others cravings in the light of the good news of Jesus.

If God gave his Son in our place so that he no longer views us as rebels but perfect sons then I can trust God for everything and not crave the things he will not give me, but seek to crave the things that God craves.