I think your statements also agree with Matthew 13:44-45, Philippians 3:7-14, and Colossians 3:1-4.

Indeed, may the Lord deliver us from evil and draw us to behold Himself in awe.

Grace and peace.

Unfortunately, I believe your justification for such longings is philosophical not biblical. You will not find in Scripture any didactic encouragement for the enjoyment of riches. The call of Christ is self-sacrifice in all areas of life to the extent that we love our neighbors as ourselves, which means we are willing and do give others the same things we give ourselves.

Grace and peace.

If you study photos of the poorest of the poor, and their environments, you will still see this aspect of God manifested – bright scraps worn to beautify whenever possible, bits of 'treasure' that could be bartered but instead are kept about, an irrepressible expression of our Maker, Artist God.

May the Lord delight you today, no matter what else He puts in your hands or in your wallet.

I agree with Matt that one does not have to wait until he/she lives out the truth to speak the truth. It is better to speak the truth than to speak falsely no matter how one lives otherwise (although living out the truth makes the message more effective). Moreover, it is not any claim of humility to proclaim the truth.

This is a great post. I would like to bring up some subtle issues:

While pursuit of "nice things" under the sun is a futile chasing after the wind, _having_ them is ethically neutral for the following reasons:

1. In one's attempts to glorify God, one sometimes needs capital goods. Sometimes, having "nicer" capital goods yields higher productivity with which I can give more. We are to _invest_ what God has given us, not bury it under ground. (And the Bible gives examples of investments, especially investing in other people, which I think lines up nicely with what your articles suggest. One could digress much further into this issue.)

2. Even when "nicer" is not necessary, sometimes "nicer" is _cheaper_. For example, to me, a banana is "nicer" than an orange, yet it is cheaper. So the decision to buy lots of bananas but rarely buy oranges is a no-brainer.

3. Sometimes, someone will give you something nice as a gift. Sometimes, though what you have may be nice, it might be hard to sell at a fair price–or even a price that makes the sale worth your time. Sometimes, these goods will help you be more productive if you keep them (depending on what it is).

4. "Nice" has different meanings to different people in different contexts.

But I think the point you're making is that we are to pursue glorifying God alone, not, e.g., 10%. When it comes to material possessions, our focus ought to be on pleasing the Lord, not ourselves, and the result should tend toward lacking what Americans are typically expected to have (e.g. cable TV).

My wife and I are moving out of our apartment to live with my parents (again) this weekend. I'm finding that the most costly aspect of most of what I own is the time it takes to move it. The second most costly aspect is the time it takes to sell it… so much so that it's usually less costly to me to just give it to Goodwill (partly because I don't have anything with a very high resale value at the moment). The third most costly aspect is the space it takes up. All of this comes from a life-long fondness for cheap goods, some of which have assisted me in glorifying God, but some of which are now coming out my nostrils.

Just my opinion.