“Stuff”

In Veggie Tales: Madame Blueberry, the lyricists wrote probably the funniest songs about materialism I’ve ever heard.  In the episode Madame Blueberry, a blueberry who’s always wishing for better stuff meets representatives from the new “Stuff Mart” that has just moved in her town.

They introduce themselves with a rap song about the stuff they sell, and I hope you get to hear the hysterically funny song if you never have.  The key lines in the song reach far past a world of vegetables:

“Happiness waits at the Stuff Mart!  All you need is lots . . . more . . . stuff![1]”

What becomes of this singing advertisement?  Well, Madame Blueberry goes off with the sales rep and buys stuff until her house gets so stuffed it falls off the tree and lands in the ocean.  Bye, bye stuff.

There are a lot of five-year-olds who need to learn the lesson that stuff isn’t the answer to happiness.  And there are a lot of grown-ups, too.  I know I’ve been convicted by how much I’ve spent on myself and how little I’ve spent on compassion and evangelism.

The best lesson in the episode doesn’t come from the fruit, however.  It comes from a vegetable.  🙂

A little asparagus and his dad go to the very same “Stuff Mart” as Madame Blueberry.  The asparagus wants a train he sees, but his father tells him he can only afford a ball.  The asparagus answers, “A ball would be nice” and launches into a simple song about thankfulness that reminds all of us of where our hearts should be.  The chorus goes:

Because a thankful heart is a happy heart!

I’m glad for what I have and that’s an easy way to start!

For a God who really cares

And He listens to our prayers

That’s why I say thanks every day[1].

If we believe in Christ, then we really believe in a God who cares.  That is the foundation of any joy we could possibly have!  says:

And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him. (Colossians 3:17, NIV)

You must each decide in your heart how much to give. And don’t give reluctantly or in response to pressure. “For God loves a person who gives cheerfully.” (2 Corinthians 9:7, NLT)

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[1] Veggie Tales: Madame Blueberry: A Lesson in Thankfulness published by Big Idea Productions.

Photograph Peter Dutton, profile on http://www.flickr.com/people/joeshlabotnik/

Photograph is under Creative Commons License.

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