WHAT WE CAN'T LIVE WITHOUT

Question: What can't you live without? If you asked a teenager, it could be their smart phone or music downloads. If you asked most of America, it might be their computer, cable or TV. I use my computer a lot, but the verdict is still out since my family only got cable recently and I don't have much time for TV viewing. But as I read an on-line article titled, "10 Things We Can't Live Without," I came up with my own list and mused over the question. First, let's see how surprised you are over the 10...

1. Portable computer


2. High-speed Internet access


3. Smart phones


4. Education


5. Movies


6. TV


7. Music downloads


8. Pets


9. Booze


10. Coffee
    

Quite an impressive list, don't you think? Yet no where on there are the things we truly can not live without. "Now wait a minute," you say. "A lot of us can't function without that first cup of coffee!" Fair enough assessment, but what I'm eluding to is a sense of perspective. To think that one can't live without booze, for example, is to believe an alcoholic would die without it. And if you asked a recovering alcoholic, his or her life is literally worth living without it.

No, the list I mused over in my head was more about defining what was a need and putting things into perspective. Anyone will tell you an email is expedient and necessary, but a handwritten letter can suffice if you don't have a computer. Perspective gives us the benefit of options. But a need, by its own definition, "is necessary for organisms to live a healthy life" (okay, I admit I used my computer to look that one up instead of a dictionary). What encompassed the article's list are "nice-to-haves." The article's are things we can live without; we choose not to because they're simply nice to have. So after a great deal of thought, my list consisted of 5 things I believe we truly can't live without. Let me know what you think...

1. Water - the most important nutrient in the human body (not to mention we're made up of the stuff).


2. Food - the kind that sustains good health.


3. Oxygen - trust me, you don't want to hold your breath on this one!


4. Shelter - this one's the "roof-over-your-head" type, not the added amenities we've grown to love on HGTV's "House Hunters."


5. God - without Him, there is no life.

The world offers a lot of "nice to haves" we believe we can't live without. God offers the things we can't live without and they are not only nice to have but necessary in order to live life.

Truth is without God there is no life to live. He is the One who created the heavens and the earth (Genesis 1 & 2). He is the One who supplies needs (Philippians 4:19). And He is the One who gives life eternally (John 3:15-17). The world may offer a lot of "nice to haves" guised in necessities, but trust me on this one, we won't die if we don't have them.