Contentment

But godliness with contentment is great gain. 1 Timothy 6:6

Are you content with what you have? Or do you always want more than you need? We must seriously think about this because it may determine our salvation. In the Bible there are many people who became greedy and wanted more than they needed, often with disastrous results. In the next few paragraphs we are going to take a look at the troubles they got themselves into because of this lack of contentment, which is really sin.

First we have David who was a great king of Israel and throughout most of his life served God very well. However, just at the prime of his reign, when he had everything he could possibly want, he coveted after something that was not his. At this time David probably had 20 wives or more but then when he was on the rooftop he saw a very beautiful women named Bathsheba bathing herself. The very minute he looked at her he sinned and he should have stopped right there, but instead he fed his lust and invited her over td talk for a while. After that David tried to do the right thing with getting Bathsheba back to her husband but he had already gone too far. From there David basically murdered Bathsheba’s husband so he could marry her and although he felt some amount of guilt he thought nobody would ever learn of his great sin. Somebody did learn though. God saw the whole thing and He could not let sin go unpunished. He sent His prophet Nathan who rebuked David and, although David was very, very sorry and confessed his sin, his sin would be punished. The first born of Bathsheba died soon after birth and David’s own son Absalom ended up chasing him through his own kingdom. So indeed it would have been much better if David would have been content with the many things he had been blessed with.

Another example’ of people who were not content with what they had were the children of Israel. These people were receiving the best food possible every morning and night. Manna, which was what the angels in heaven ate, was extremely healthy and whoever ate it had amazing physical stamina. Despite all this the children of Israel demanded meat – put straight, dead carcasses. The Lord saw that what they were asking for was sinful but He gave them what they wanted. All the people of the congregation that ate the meat got a horrible sickness and many of them died. Also some of the camp of Israel became very dissatisfied with how much authority Moses had. On one occasion Moses’ own brother and sister, Aaron and Miriam, felt that they did not have near enough power and Moses had too much. They began discussing it and thinking of ways to improve the situation, however Moses overheard them and was deeply hurt. The Lord ordered that Miriam must be punished, and despite her words against him Moses pleaded that the punishment would not have to be accomplished. “And Moses cried unto the Lord, saying, Heal her now, 0 God, I beseech thee.” Numbers 12:13″

Korah, Dathan and Abiram also complained bitterly against Moses and they even tried to start an uprising that would go back to Egypt. They also got their just punishment. What all the individuals did not realize is with authority comes a lot of responsibility. Not only that, Moses had gone through 40 years of training and many tough experiences before he could even think about leading one million people. In the end the person who the Lord chose was the best for the job because not only was Moses very, “meek, above all the men which were upon the face of the earth” (Numbers 12:3), he was also a very kind leader. If Israel had been content with the leader God had chosen, the food they were given to eat and how God was leading them in the wilderness, they would have had a much easier journey from Egypt to Canaan.

King Ahab was a man whose greed also got the better of him and led him to do a horrible sin. Not too long after the revival in Israel, Ahab was in his palace. Then he spotted a very beautiful vineyard and just like king David, even though he had many of his own, he wanted that vineyard at all costs. King Ahab’s covetousness quickly took over as he went to talk to the owner of the vineyard, Naboth, a very good and faithful man. Naboth pointed out to Ahab that it was against the Law of Moses to give away ancestral land, but Ahab wanted that land so badly he went and told his wife, Jezebel, of his problem. Jezebel hated all Israelites who still obeyed the true God so she quickly made plans to kill him. After he was stoned Ahab was happy and went to take possession of the vineyard. While in the vineyard Elijah met Ahab and rebuked him saying, “In the place where dogs licked the blood of Naboth shall dogs lick thy blood even thine.” 1 Kings 21: 19. Ahab became so greedy that his conscience was virtually dead and all he could think of is, “what can I do for myself’)

Are we any better than these people from the Bible? Although we think that we would never kill people or commit sins like they did in the Bible just to have something we like, we are in just as much danger today as they were back then. In fact today there are so many more exciting and expensive things available that it is very easy to start wanting more and more. Even if we don’t kill in order to get what we want so badly, we are still breaking the tenth commandment if we are not happy and content with what we have. “Thou shalt not covet.” In the end, we will be judged not only by the actions we have committed, but also by those actions which we would have done if we had the opportunity, or if we knew we would not get caught. Sometimes we avoid doing things because we don’t want to get caught and be embarrassed. But this is sin also. Sometimes we want the latest and best modem inventions even if we can’t afford them. John the Baptist told the soldiers to be, “content with your wages.” Luke 3:14. What we often don’t realize is that what God gives us is the best. Ultimately the only way we will be happy in our lives is to follow God’s plan. So it is my wish and prayer that we will seriously think about what way we are heading in our lives, are we constantly wanting better stuff and being distracted by the things of this world, or are we happy even if we live in a hut realizing that we will have a mansion in heaven? “And ,i; having food and raiment let us be therewith content.” ‘1 Tim.6:8.

“Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee nor forsake thee.” Hebrews 13:5.

AMEN