[Faith-talk] Good Night Message for Saturday, October 20 2012

[Paul]

Hello and good evening once again to my fellow North Americans, and good Sunday to the rest of you.  I hope that your day went well and, for us in the western hemisphere, that your evening is going well also.

Once again Carole Knowlton comes back to join us with her article entitled "Are You Content?", rendered as follows:

"Godliness with contentment is great gain ... And having food and raiment let us therewith be content" (1 Tim. 6:6, 8).  Perhaps we  should substitute "satisfied" for "content." As Christians we should be content because it glorifies God.

The Israelites wandered in the wilderness for forty years because they murmured about what they did not have instead of appreciating what they did have.

Our culture is saturated with advertisements.  The retailer's goal is to make us discontented with what we have so that we will purchase things we do not need.  It is a production-driven society.  Products are produced faster than the consumer can consume them; so the manufacturer has to create a demand for the products.  Our society was once consumer-driven, and the consumer had to wait for new products.  That is no longer so.  Now many products are developed first; then a demand is created for the products.

If we consume more, more products are sold.  Somewhere we need to draw a line.  If we do not, we will look to things for contentment and not God.  We will always feel the need for one more thing in order to satisfy us.

Paul wrote about this in Philippians 4:11: "Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content." It was necessary for Paul to be satisfied where he was and with what he had.  If we try to serve God without being satisfied, we will spread discontentment.  Maybe we would rather live in a different state or region.  Maybe we think we would be more effective elsewhere; but would we?

God is the blessed controller of all things.  He is also our enabler.  He longs to enable us to serve Him where we are with what we have.

When I was in college, I invited a friend from home to come for a visit on a Saturday.  After she left, my roommate told me never to invite her again.  Why? Because she was discontented and nothing satisfied her.  Negativism, discouragement and discontent are all related.  They are tools the devil uses to stunt our growth.  They are hazardous to our health because they get our eyes off what God has done.  We then focus on unmet expectations or what we do not have.  Instead, let us be satisfied with where we are, with what we have, and, most of all, with whom we serve.

Great advice from Sister Carole, wouldn't you agree? I hope and pray that this article gave you food for thought.

And now may the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob just keep us safe, individually and collectively, throughout the night or day and especially in these last days in which we live.  Your Christian friend and brother, Paul