Contentment

06/20/2011

Good Morning!

I had a great Father’s Day yesterday. I got up at my usual time (which is around 4 a.m.). My first stop … well actually my second … was the computer to check email. I worked a little while and then checked out my daughter’s blog (Tightening the Corset Again). I found she had written a tribute to me … can you imagine … and I was quite moved. As I said Thursday, I am a blessed man.

Our Sunday School class went off site yesterday. One of our class members has been unable to attend for some time and we decided to take our class to him. Our study was on contentment. I had to look up the definition. Here is the one from the Easton’s 1897 Bible Dictionary:

Bible Dictionary
Contentment definition
a state of mind in which one's desires are confined to his lot whatever it may be (1 Tim. 6:6; 2 Cor. 9:8).
It is opposed to envy (James 3:16), avarice (Heb. 13:5), ambition (Prov. 13:10), anxiety (Matt. 6:25, 34), and repining (1 Cor. 10:10).
It arises from the inward disposition, and is the offspring of humility, and of an intelligent consideration of the rectitude and benignity of divine providence (Ps. 96:1, 2; 145), the greatness of the divine promises (2 Pet. 1:4), and our own unworthiness (Gen. 32:10); as well as from the view the gospel opens up to us of rest and peace hereafter (Rom. 5:2).
Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary

Here’s my take on it:

Godliness – Companion of Contentment
1 Timothy 6:6-8 New International Version (NIV)

6 But godliness with contentment is great gain. 7 For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. 8 But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that.

What is “godliness”? – Devotion to God.
Let’s talk for a moment about what it means to be a believer in Jesus Christ. When we accepted Christ Jesus, we took Him as our “Savior” and as our “Lord”. Now we understand the “savior” part pretty well: we realize that we were separated from God by our sin; we acknowledged that we were helpless to remove the curse of sin from ourselves; we discovered that God has provided for us Jesus who took on the penalty of sin for us … and died in our place. Therefore, Jesus is the one and only answer to our dilemma … and we trust in that completed work for our salvation.

But what does “lord” mean? We are and have always been “slaves”. We are either slaves to our own lusts (sin) or we are slaves to Christ Jesus our Lord. There is a hopelessness to being a slave to sin – we cannot get enough to satisfy ourselves – and thus we cannot find true peace. But Christ is sufficient for our needs. And as His servant (slave), I can find the peace that passes understanding because I don’t have to have all for me.

How does one live in godliness? It is a matter of focus. If Christ is your Master, you go where He says go; you do what He says do; you rely on His provision for the needs that you might have; you relinquish control and allow Him to take the reins of your life so that He is pleased. In doing so, you can find satisfaction in what you have – because it is not a measure of your success but rather of God’s ability to provide what you need when you need it. And there is a release in that for us.

Being a Christian is a true joy.

Agape’


Mr. Jim


Prayer Need:

Rebecca Caston – MS and transverse myelitis