CONTENTMENT

Contentment.  Can we have it?  Can we know it in our personal lives?  What does it take to be content?  Must you have everything you want to be content?  Are you content now?

Paul the apostle had a great perspective on contentment.  He wrote under inspiration of the Holy Spirit, "Not that I speak in respect of want:  for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content" (Phil 4:11).  Wow!  What lessons we could learn from Paul.  Paul was a man who knew extremes in his life.  There were times in his life when he had much and times in his life when he had little in respect to material goods.  There were times in his ministry he seen God work great miracles through him.  There were also times he found himself sitting bound in a prison for having dared preached the gospel so boldly.

Yet in spite of the good and the bad - in spite of the up times and down times, Paul was content where he was with what he had.  Perhaps you wonder how he could be content through all he went through.  JESUS!  That's the answer.  His relationship with Jesus made all the difference.  You see Paul's contentment was not based on material goods or his outward circumstances.  His contentment was inward - in his relationship with Jesus.

Now, back to the questions we started with.  Contentment.  Can we have it?  Can we know it in our personal lives?  What does it take to be content?  Must you have everything you want to be content?  Are you content now?  We can certainly know contentment in our personal lives.  There's no doubt about that.  Like Paul, our contentment isn't based on the things we do or do not have, but rather on our relationship with Jesus.  Are you content now?  That question can best be answered by answering this question:  How's your relationship with Jesus?  He is the Source of true contentment.

I had a couple of lines of a chorus going through my mind all day today.   When I got home I asked Cindy what song this was.  (She's my song source).  I think this chorus sums things up rather well:

I found happiness, I found peace of mind
I found joy in living, perfect love sublime
I found real contentment, happy living in accord
I found happiness all the time, wonderful peace of mind
When I found the Lord!

Until next time, enjoy the journey!

Ray

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