so, where is your heart? i mean, the pharisees pretty much kept all of the law, and yet they were called a brood of vipers, by Jesus..
if the Lord is priority #1 in your life.. then everything else is secondary anyway.. try saying that as many times as it takes to register.. if the Lord is number 1 in your life(in your heart), then everything else is secondary..
there is no reason i can't have God as #1 in my heart and life, if i am wearing clothing from the salvation army thrift store, or wearing armani..
have you ever asked the waiter for a clean glass because the outside of the one you were using was not clean.. i never have.. infact, i only look at the inside.. and so does God...
don't let misinterpretation of the scriptures steal your joy...
we were made with a natural, inner desire for things that taste great.. i am not trying to be smart here. but, wasn't it God that taught us that only the choicest of meat were fitting for His consumption.. with God it was for sacrificial means.. but, we also only want the choicest meat.. we like nice things.. God wants us to like nice things.. i mean, lets just take a look at His glorious city.. the new jerusalem.. it is going to have streets of gold.. huge pearls at the gates, and the list just goes on and on... this is God's inspired word, put in a way, that will appeal to our senses.. you and me.. he is basically saying this to us.. if it didn't matter, then He would take the time to describe it..
so, no, it certainly is not being a glutton to like, want and enjoy nice things.. it is actually human..
blessings friend.. and remember. if God is first in your heart. then everything else is second..
I know what your saying about allowing nice things and i agree but the only thing i feel God pressuring me to is a life of sufficiency without eating or consuming in excess for my own good. The Apostle Paul warned about improper feasting practices by early christians.
1 cor 11
17In the following directives I have no praise for you, for your meetings do more harm than good. 18In the first place, I hear that when you come together as a church, there are divisions among you, and to some extent I believe it. 19No doubt there have to be differences among you to show which of you have God’s approval. 20So then, when you come together, it is not the Lord’s Supper you eat, 21for when you are eating, some of you go ahead with your own private suppers. As a result,
one person remains hungry and another gets drunk. 22Don’t you have homes to eat and drink in? Or do you despise the church of God by humiliating those who have nothing?
Ephesians 5:5
For this you know with certainty, that no immoral or impure person or
covetous man, who is an idolater, has an inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God.
1 Corinthians 6:9-10
Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor
drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God.
Its bundled in with the sex sins in this above verse (covetous)
1Now listen, you rich people, weep and wail because of the misery that is coming on you. 2Your wealth has rotted, and moths have eaten your clothes. 3Your gold and silver are corroded. Their corrosion will testify against you and eat your flesh like fire. You have
hoarded wealth in the last days. 4Look! The wages you failed to pay the workers who mowed your fields are crying out against you. The cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord Almighty. 5You have lived on earth in
luxury and self-indulgence. You have fattened yourselves in the day of slaughter.a 6You have condemned and murdered the innocent one, who was not opposing you.
We might be saved by grace but it still isnt licence to live in luxurious excess at the expense of poor people in 3rd world countries! If anything we should let Armani go without and give the cost of the extra $550 pair of Jeans to charity and buy the $80 ones!