Have You Contentment?

1 Timothy 6:6 “Now Godliness with contentment is great gain.”

Once a rich industrialist, disturbed to find a fisherman sitting idly by his boat, asked, “Why aren’t you out there fishing?” “Because I’ve caught enough fish for today,” was his reply. “Why don’t you catch more fish than you need?” asked the rich man. “What would I do with them?” “You could earn more money and buy a better boat so you could go deeper and catch more fish. You could purchase nylon nets, catch even more fish, and make more money. Soon you’d have a fleet of boats and be rich like me.” “Then what would I do?” “You could sit down and enjoy life.” “What do you think I’m doing now?” the fisherman replied. 

There is a fallacy that promotes the notion that the more stuff we have, and the more things we do, brings contentment. 

King Solomon, was in his day, the wealthiest and wisest man on the planet. The Queen of Sheba, who visited him, was no slouch either when it came to riches. But when she saw his wisdom, and his fabulous wealth, and all that he owned, it literally took her breath away. (1 Kings 10)

Solomon had everything a man could possibly wish for and more. But did it make him content? Read his musings on life in the Book of Ecclesiastes, when he left God out of the equation it all turned sour. 

Eccles. 2:10-11 “Whatever my eyes desired I did not keep from them. I did not withhold my heart from any pleasure. For my heart rejoiced in all my labour; and this was my reward from all my labour. Then I looked at all the work my hands had done, and on the labour in which I had toiled; and indeed it was all vanity and grasping for the wind. There was no profit under the sun.” 

Benjamin Franklin once said, “Content makes poor men rich. Discontent makes rich men poor.”

Jesus put it this way, “A man’s life does not consist in the abundance of things he possesses.” (Luke 12:15) 

Someone said, “We’ll miss contentment if keeping rather than releasing becomes our objective. We too often love things and use people, when we should be using things and loving people. We are most content when we are grateful for what we own, satisfied with what we make, and generous to those in need.”

A Quaker offered property to anyone who considered himself contented. When a man came to claim the property, he was asked, “If you’re contented, why do you want my property?”

Paul discovered the secret of contentment. Philippians 4:12-13 (NIV) “I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do all things through Him who gives me strength.”

- Pastor David Goudy