Be Content

A few months ago, I got to spend some quality time with my sons. My wife Erica was at a conference and my daughter Lily was sleeping over a friends house, and so my sons and I were able to have some guy time. So for dinner I told them, "Let's switch things up. We'll eat dessert before we eat dinner." We had a half a gallon container of Ice cream and I told them let’s finish this ice cream. I was telling them that we would forget about the bowls and that we would be eating straight from the container. But the only requirement would be that I would scoop the ice cream and feed it to them so that there would not be any messes.

We’re sitting on the couch, and after a couple of spoons of ice cream for each of us my older son began to say that he wanted the spoon. I explained to him that we agreed that I would be taking the spoon duties scooping the ice cream. That didn’t help. Then my younger son starts crying saying something about wanting the spoon for himself.

And in my mind I’m saying “We’re eating ice cream instead of dinner!”

And yet looking back at that moment that’s exactly how we can be. When things are for the most part going well we can so easily find something to be discontent about.

In the beginning of Hebrews chapter 13 there is a passage that runs through a bunch of different aspects of life and how we should live.  It talks about how we should not neglect to show hospitality, remembering those who are in prison, remembering those who are being mistreated, not defiling marriage and sexual purity...and then it goes on about about keeping your life free from the love of money; to be content with what you have. And then it says something really profound.  It says be content with what you have for he, God, has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”

This is saying that you can truly be satisfied with your life, not because of your circumstances, or because of what other people say about you, but because you have God, and that he will never leave you or forsake you. You can have true contentment because you have Jesus in your life; who he is and what he has done.

So our exhortation is straight from Hebrews chapter 13.

Hebrews 13:5–6 (ESV): be content with what you have, for he has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” 6 So we can confidently say, “The Lord is my helper; 
I will not fear;  what can man do to me?”