So What Do You Really Have to Have?

I have a lot of stuff. There's a lot more stuff I'd like to get. But I often wonder, "Just how much of this stuff do I actually need?" It's easy to think that if I didn't have all my stuff, I'd be miserable. Just imagine life without TV, DVD's, iPods, and XBox. Pretty primitive, huh? Stick with me.
Imagine your life without computers, cars, or airplanes. Wow! Now that's living in the sticks! Okay, imagine life without electricity, running water, or manufactured clothing. Ouch. That could get pretty boring, don't you think? Imagine life where everything you had you made with your own hands, and the only food you had to eat was what you had grown in your garden. I'd bet we would all be a lot skinnier!
The question is, what do we really have to have? 1 Timothy 6:6-8 gives us the answer. "But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. And having food and raiment let us be therewith content." It says that all we really need to be content is "food and raiment."
Those two things, "food and raiment," are basically food and covering. We need food to eat and water to drink in order to live. If we don't have those things, we will die. We don't necessarily need pizza or pop or steak or lasagna; we just need some sort of nourishment.
We also need covering. We need clothes to protect us from the weather: the sun, the rain, the cold. We don't need designer clothes or even comfortable clothes; we just need something to protect us from the elements. We also need some sort of covered place where we can sleep. We need some sort of protection from rain, wind, and snow. We don't have to have the nicest house in the city; we just need somewhere to sleep.
If we have those two things, food and covering, we should be content. Everything else is extra. When we were born, we came into the world naked and without a penny to our name. When we die, we won't take any of the stuff we've accumulated with us. If we have food and covering, we ought to be content and thank God for supplying our needs.