“Wish List”

It’s mid-October.

And I have just seen, within the past few days, Christmas ads.

“The Christmas Creep?”

I remember, as a child, the thrill of receiving Christmas “Wish Books,” from stores like Sears, JCPenney’s, and Montgomery Wards.

This catalog usually showed up in stores by late summer, available for pickup. And they were the size of telephone books, as far as heft, weight, and thickness went.

 

Heavy Lifting, yep.

 

The more modern-day equivalent is that of the “Amazon Wish List.”

Do you have one?

I do.

And, yeah, there are pages of stuff on it: clothes, shoes, beauty products, books, just to give some examples.

Wishes. Wishes.

Some definitions of the word?

“to have a desire for (something, such as something unattainable); to give expression to as a wish; to desire (a person or thing) to be as specified”

Ever heard the expression?

 “Have things, but don’t let the things HAVE YOU.”

Scripture has a lot to say about things… and the heart.

Because BOTH involve seeking, in one way or another.

Seek First…

“But seek first the kingdom of YHWH and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.”

Matthew 6:33

We are told “to keep the main thing the main thing.”

Seek First.

And the focus of that search is not supposed to be any person, place or thing, in front OF The Most High.

I know. Easier said than lived.

I say this, because, come on, I know what my Amazon Wish List looks like.

Anyhoo, you and I are in the same dilemma boat.

And the boat asks a question…

Where is your heart?

“For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”
Matthew 6:21

I hate to break it to you, but you do have a heart.

And it’s… “complicated…”

“The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?”

Jeremiah 17:9

Eh…

 

This is not about shaming anyone; we all struggle with this.

We all need help with this.

“Search me, O Elohim, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.”

Psalms 139:23-24

And that requires a heart check.

“Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.”

Proverbs 4:23

 

And that brings us back to “The Wish List.”

Storing Up Treasures?

“Don’t store up treasures here on earth, where moths eat them and rust destroys them, and where thieves break in and steal. Store your treasures in heaven, where moths and rust cannot destroy, and thieves do not break in and steal.”

Matthew 6:19-20

“The Christmas Creep,” therefore, makes this Scripture apropos.

Before our “wish lists” become any longer, Christmas, or no Christmas, let’s stop and think about our heart focus.

How can we become closer to our Father, in the middle of that?

Our Loving Father IS inviting us to get closer to Him, now, wherever, and however, we are.

That’s HIS Wish! And it’s at THE TOP of His List!

Let’s pray.

Abba,

I come to You, through Our Shepherd.

Your only begotten Son, Our Savior, יֵשׁוּעַ‎.

You know, in exacting detail, what my “wish list” is.

You know what my heart is occupied and obsessed with.

And You know exactly where I have placed You on “my list.”

You know if You are not even on there, in the first place, let alone, “first.”

Forgive me.

Forgive my heart that I cannot seem to understand accurately.

Thank You that You do.

Help me to genuinely, authentically, not only get closer to You today, but to place You First in my life.

I need so much help in this area.

Take over my life, guide it, change it, direct it into the relationship You desire to have with me.

I cannot do this in my own strength; I need You.

Meet me right where I am.

Thank You.

I receive it, by faith, now.

Amen.

Copyright © 2026 by Sheryle Cruse