![[Photo of a Scripture verse]](https://www.deankwilson.com/Blog_images/1_Timothy_6_7-8.jpg)
| “For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that.” |
| —1 Timothy 6:7-8 |
Have you ever wanted to accumulate stuff? When I was about ten years old, I very much wanted a tape recorder. I had seen photos in a book in the public library about radio stations. I thought that if I could buy a tape recorder, I could have the start of creating a radio station of my own.
There was one problem in my plan hatched back in 1957, I lived in a very loving home with two wonderful parents who had adopted me at birth. But, like most people in this period of time, they did not begin to make enough money to buy frivolous things like a tape recorder. In fact, long after my dad died in December of 1981, I discovered some of his tax returns from the mid-1950s and was floored to discover that my dad had a gross income in 1957 of just a bit over $3,000. (My on-line inflation calculator indicates this would be $26,242.61 in today’s dollars.)
The tape recorder I so badly wanted, an Ampex 601, cost $595.00 in 1957. That amount of money represented 20% of my dad’s entire salary. There was no way that my dad would ever, or could ever, spend that amount of money buying his ten-year-old son what amounted to a frivolous “toy”—just no way at all.
The Apostle Paul wrote these wise words to his own “son in the faith” found in 1 Timothy 6:7-8:
For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that.
Part of devoting oneself to the Kingdom of God and its King, Jesus, is learning to live a simpler life without a desire for frivolous possessions. As we begin a new day, we should all remember these words of the Apostle Paul.
By the way, it took my dad two years from the day I first shared my desire for a tape recorder. But, in 1959, he had saved enough to spend $150.00 to buy me a Voice of Music™ tape recorder manufactured by the V-M Corporation of Benton Harbor, Michigan. I was astonished and delighted. Just a month later, I met the school teacher who invited me to visit him at the local radio station where he worked part-time. Soon, I was hanging out there. This radio station had two Ampex 601 tape recorders, which they used to play pre-recorded commercial spot announcements.
My dad was a man who would wholeheartedly embrace the above words from the Apostle. He was also was a man who greatly loved his adopted son. I hope I have lived in a way to be worthy of his love.
As to my heavenly Father: I know far too well that, on my own, I can never be worthy of His love. And yet, He loves me anyways. Just as He loves all those He has called to belong to Himself.
