Learn To Be Content!
Categories: Bible Study LessonsSolomon declared in Ecclesiastes 1:8, “All things are wearisome, more than one can say. The eye never has enough of seeing, or the ear its fill of hearing” (NIV).
As in the above scripture, Solomon also teaches us in Proverbs 27:20 that man’s desire for “something better” is as insatiable as the grave. Sometimes people grow weary of their situation in life. They become dissatisfied with what they have and yearn for something better. As we think on these things, let us reflect on the following story:
There was once a weary farmer, who having lived on the same farm all of his life, grew tired of it all. He longed for a “better” farm, the kind he had always “dreamed” of. So, he decided to sell the farm and listed it with one of his friends who was a realtor. The realtor prepared an ad to sell the farm. Before publishing the ad, the realtor read it to the farmer. The ad spoke of all the farm’s advantages such as its ideal location, good water, modern equipment, rich soil and fire stock. Upon hearing it, the farmer decided not to sell his farm after all. He thought to himself, “All my life I’ve been looking for a place just like that – I think I’ll keep it.”
The very thing the farmer yearned for the most was what he had always possessed. All of us must learn to be more satisfied with what we have and limit our yearning for “more”. To desire what we do not have causes us to forget or play down our present blessings. Blessings are always there if we would just take time to notice and appreciate them.
The secret is to learn to be satisfied with what we have, especially when those “things” are adequate to meet our needs. Paul had learned this secret of happiness when he said in Philippians 4:11-12, “Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content. I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound: every where and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need.” The same apostle tells what what “kind” of contentment we should be striving for. He states it is “great gain” to learn to be content without riches or earthly treasures (1 Timothy 6:5-8; cf. Psalm 37:16; Hebrews 13:5) “gained” contrary to God’s Word (1 Timothy 6:9-10; 2 Peter 2:3)
As Christians, we need to remember Christ’s admonition in Matthew 6:25-33 and trust that God “shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:19).