Monday, November 17, 2008
1 Timothy 6:6-10 But godliness with contentment is great gain . . . People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction . . . Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.
CONTENTMENT THROUGH COMMUNION WITH GOD
The little boy was asking for it. Riding in a cart at the store, he had been told repeatedly by his mother to stop reaching for things. But that Batman action figure with just too good to pass up. Though the toy was out of his reach, the little boy stretched and stretched. Losing his balance, he tumbled from the cart and experienced first hand how discontent and desire can lead to pain.
God wants His people to be satisfied with what He gives them. He wants them to trust in His love and power, and be content. Sure, it's not sinful to want something or have a "wish-list." We can want. The trouble comes when our want leads to a sinful getting and when desire becomes sinful obsession.
Sometimes parents try to instill contentment in their children by pointing to the less fortunate. "Eat your peas, there are children starving in Africa." But God does something altogether different. To instill contentment in His children, God points to how fortunate WE are!
"Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, 'Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you'" (Hebrews 13:5).
God is all-powerful, and can give me whatever, whenever. When He doesn't, it's because He's got a better plan. If I want but don't get, I can deal with it because I know that God remains with me. Through Jesus, my sins have been forgiven and I now have a loving relationship with God the Father. Wow.
Maybe I should stay in the cart. If it's good for me, His long reach is long enough to fetch what I long for. If not, so what? I've still got Him.
