Happy Labor Day, everyone.

I know many of you had the day off, but it's not a day off for the Ask Pastor John

podcast.

And today is a good day to reflect on the luxuries that surround our lives.

We have a question from Rick Siegel, who serves as the vice president of advancement and

distinguished lecturer of commerce and vocation at Bethlehem College and seminary.

Rick writes in to ask this, Pastor John, how are we to think of luxuries?

For example, people were once required to buy ice from an iceman to chill and preserve

their food, eventually a fellow invented an electric refrigerator.

But at its original price point, only the very wealthy could own this luxurious, then

non-essential product.

But as more wealthy people bought a refrigerator, a greater demand enabled greater supply,

driving down the cost of manufacture and making the product more widely available.

Today, a refrigerator would be considered one of life's essentials, even for those who

have adopted a wartime lifestyle.

So our luxury purchases made by those with means to do so, to be frowned upon even when

the products meet a need that only someone with such sufficient means can afford.

What do you say, Pastor John?

Well, what I say is, yes, a luxury, the term luxury is relative, isn't it, it's relative

to time, and it's relative to culture, clearly it is.

So what I look for is a possible definition for me that works, that helps me to discern

what would a sinful luxury be, so that I could avoid it.

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