To Be Or Not To Be...Content

Sunday our pastor continued working his way through 1 Timothy, specifically 6:3-10, and the main point he was making was that people will either try to use God for personal gain or they will be content simply to worship God. This started my wheels turning because it forced me to think about my own motives in pursuing a life of godliness. I started asking myself some questions, and honestly I think they are questions that we must all answer when it comes to God and our motives.

Am I trying by my own effort to earn a salvation that has already been freely given?

Am I trying to be more godly so that God will give me the things that I want?

Am I content simply to rest in the hope that I have in Christ, knowing that no matter what comes my way or crosses my path, God works for the good of those who love Him?

If I am not content, if there is always something more that I need to be happy, then what does that say about my walk with Christ and the authenticity of my faith?

If my identity is found in money and power, have I not forgotten that God owns it all anyway?

If my satisfaction is found in sex, have I not forgotten that there is no greater pleasure than to know God?

If my self-worth is found in knowledge, have I not forgotten the infinite depths of knowledge which belongs to God alone?

Maybe this whole montage of questions is just a means for me to think out loud a bit, to process what the Lord is teaching me through His Word and the men who are faithful to preach it week in and week out. But perhaps it is something that we all need to think through.

Each day when we wake up, what is the dominant thought in our minds? Is it all the things we have to do...or the disappointments we have felt...or even guilt because of our own sin and failure? Or are we confidently approaching the throne of grace to worship the only God who saves and sustains, who redeems and restores? I genuinely pray it is the latter. I also know myself and my own sin nature and I realize that we probably all wake up, more often than not, overwhelmed or defeated by the former.

And so I am purposing, I am setting my mind and heart, to pray each day:

Father, you are the Author of Life and the Hope of Salvation. You are Today, will You fill me with the contentment that can only be found in You. Today, in trial or comfort, success or failure, I will be content to know Christ and Him crucified. Today, rich or poor, happy or sad, I will be completely satisfied to rest in the hope that is Christ's blood shed for me and proclaim Your Gospel to the nations. Amen.

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That you might know Christ,