“And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:19).

Black smoke poured out of the upstairs bedroom window, and Sam could smell the acrid combination of a home burning – melting plastic, carpeting, electrical wiring, all being consumed in the hungry flames of his home, literally going up in smoke.

He had just a few moments to get some things out – the things he needed. His computer? Documents from a safe that had his bank numbers and passports? The new Mercedes sports car he had bought last week, still in the garage, and as yet untouched by the fire?

His mind was cluttered. It ground down to a crawl. And this very instant, he had to decide what he really needed in life, what he could not live without.

Then he heard his wife Serena scream: “Sam, that’s Jordan’s room! He’s still in there!” Jordan with the tousled hair and the dimples in his smile was their three year-old son.

Sam’s wants and wishes vanished. Nothing else mattered except his boy. He held his coat over his head, and threw his shoulder against the crumbling front door. The only thing he needed was his son, back safe in his arms.

There’s a difference between what we want and what we need, though life’s clutter blurs the distinction at times. Don’t let the threat of a fire, temporary or eternal, remind you of that!

by Stan Mitchell @ www.forthright.net