Contentment

Content--satisfied; not wanting more or anything else; finding enjoyment, pleasure, in what you have.

I Tim. 6:6, "But godliness with contentment is great gain."

Phil. 4:11b-12a, words of Paul, "I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation......"

The world's philosophy is summed up in this saying, "You can never be too rich or too thin." Many affluent people just want more. There will always be people who are richer and smarter and better looking and more talented than we are, and there will always be people who are poorer, less educated, less gifted with beauty or intellect or talent than we are. Paul might well have written in Philippians, "I have made up my mind, I have decided, I have determined, to enjoy whatever I have without wishing for anything more or different."

Actually, being discontent is being dissatisfied with the provisions God has made for us. It's like telling our Creator that He has shortchanged us on the good things of this world. Do we have comfortable homes, good food to eat, and clean clothes to wear? Do we have all that we really need? There is a vast difference between need and greed.

What is Paul's secret of being content in his varied circumstances? I think it is two fold. First, contentment comes from a grateful heart. It's a matter of looking at all our blessings and saying, "Thank You, God," rather than focusing on what we don't have and saying, "God, I want that." Second, it's a matter of realizing that who we are is not bound up in the material possessions we own but in who we are in Christ. We are children of the Lord of lords and King of kings, bound for an eternal home in a city whose streets are paved with gold, a city where we shall live forever in the presence of Jehovah. We are destined to be the very bride of Christ. No one can have greater standing than that. That's as good as it can get!

Thank You, Father, that the best thing in life is free and available to all--salvation through Jesus Christ. May we be always grateful for all You have given us and done for us, content in the life that you have planned for each one of us. Amen.