Contentment – Part 5
May 18, 2003
Dear Friends,
The state of being content is defined by what you desire. If all you desire is to please God and help your fellow man (think about the two greatest commandments – love God and love your neighbor), contentment is readily obtainable. If we understand this, verses like 1 Timothy 6:8 make sense. The verse reads “And having food and raiment let us be therewith content.” If we read this verse in context of what the world would have us believe, 1 Timothy 6:8 seems ludicrous. The world wants us to read it this way: “And having food and raiment (by the right designer) and a new car and a large home and the perfect body and the perfect spouse and a great job and a fat retirement account and a good golf swing and a smart, athletic children, let us be therewith content (until our neighbor gets something as good or better and then we need to out do them).” Following the world’s prescription will never bring contentment. Never. No matter how successful you are in this world’s terms, there is always something more to attain and the contentment is fleeting at best.
There is a soon to be released WCF video about a Bible school in Russia. In this video, there is a clip of a sister in Christ who has nothing that this world has to offer. She is homeless. She is old. She has no living relatives. She lives on $30 a month. She lives day to day and hand to mouth. When the interviewer, Bro. Steve Johnson, asked her what the brethren could do to help her, this was her response:
“I’m happy that I’m living a new life with Jesus, that I’ve started my sad life over and that I have Jesus with me. I realize now that I can’t complain about what God hasn’t given me because He’s given us sunshine, He’s given us the earth, He’s given us the stars above. I actually have no house at all, I have nowhere to live. In the winter months, because I literally have nowhere to live, an old people’s home that is run by the government allows me to live there. It’s a hostel for homeless people but the conditions there are absolutely terrible. In the summer months when I’m not allowed to live there I go around to people and I offer to do housework for people. I offer to work in their gardens. I offer to work on their farms if they let me sleep on their farm. So that’s how I survive in the summer months. But in the winter I have to stay in this hotel for homeless people. But also I consider myself so happy because I have found spiritual fellowship with you. I’m an optimist.”
“It’s totally awkward for me. I can’t even entertain such thought. All my life until this happened, until we got chased away, I’ve all my life worked and I’ve helped other people, not the other way around. When my brother-in-law died I spent a lot of time and effort helping my sister bring up her three children. I’ve never been in such a position of where I’ve had to ask other people for help. It’s such a terrible thing for me. The concrete help you already gave me. You gave me the Bible. You gave me the Truth. That’s the material help. You already gave it.”
“Let your life be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.” (Heb. 13:5)
Have a great week!
