Devotional - 98-10-27 - Contentment

1 Timothy 6:8 And if we have food and covering, with these we shall be content.

First I would like to show what contentment is not. Contentment is the opposite of three things, Murmuring, covetous yearning, and worrisome anxieties.

1. Murmuring

If I were to ask the question, "are you a murmurer or do you know one", if you were honest, you will reply, both. We all do it and we all know others who we deem better murmurers than ourselves. We have heard murmuring expressed a dozen times and in a dozen different ways, "Rev. Z preached a great sermon today, but did you see his tie, it didn't match his suit." "Oh, I know, and his socks, they didn't match either his suit or his tie." And in the process of such a conversation the opportunity for fruitful discussion about the sermon is lost.

Murmuring can also bmutterer may never say anything out loud, but via non-verbal communication he is clearly labeled a murmurer.

However when our mind is set in a state of contentment we need not murmur. When we have fixated our eyes on Jesus the author and perfecter of our faith (Hebrews 12:2), there can be no room for murmuring.

Jude 16 calls our attention to those who grumble, complain, or murmur. The verse says that we do these things to gain an advantage over others. This clearly is not something a Child of God should do. How sad it is to think of trampling on another person, born with the image of God, in order to advance our own selfish lusts.

In order to gain contentment, we must give up murmuring.

Soli Deo Gloria,
Tim
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