Now godliness with contentment is great gain.
(1 Timothy 6:6 NKJV)
What is contentment? We don’t talk about it much. It’s not the exuberant joy we feel when we possess everything our hearts desire. Contentment is acquired through lack, not abundance.
Paul said that he learned to be content in whatever state he was in. He continued by saying:
I know how to be abased, and I know how to abound. Everywhere and in all things, I have learned both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. (Philippians 4:12 NKJV)
During their wilderness years, the Israelites never learned contentment. If they had, they would have praised God instead of complaining. They would have pleased God rather than arousing His anger.
In Numbers chapter eleven, the Israelites tired of God’s manna and like two-year old Children, they whined for meat. God gave them exactly what they asked for. God sent quail so numerous that each family had enough quail for breakfast, lunch, and dinner every day. He directed the quail to fly just above the ground where the people could either catch them or club them.
Be careful what you ask for! While the meat was still in their mouths, the Lord sent a plague upon the people.
Scripture doesn’t tell us what happened to the Israelites. Did they become ill? Did some die?
Our focal verse tells us that godliness with contentment is great gain, but let’s look at the context in which Paul wrote this letter.
The next verse tells us we came into this world with nothing and we will take nothing with us when we leave. A hearse isn’t followed by a U-Haul.
Paul continued to say that we should be content with food and clothing. Wait a minute, Paul! We kind of need a roof over our heads. And Paul, I do appreciate my central heat and air. I can’t live without my computer. I’m a writer. Yes, Paul, I know you wrote most of the New Testament, but we don’t write using scrolls now. By the way, Paul, I need my cell phone too. We don’t have messengers to run to the next town and deliver messages. Email is faster.
A bad day is when the internet goes out, but Paul says we are to be satisfied with food and clothing. I’m beginning to feel like a spoiled brat.
Paul’s point is that we cannot be greedy, which is an antonym of contentment. He warned about the desire for wealth that leads to temptation and destruction.
After reading Numbers chapter eleven, I want to think before I speak. I want to be grateful and not grumbling. I want to testify of the Lord’s goodness. I feel richly blessed, ashamed of my discontentment.
Friend, I imagine you might be feeling it too. I’m not suggesting we trade in our laptops for letterhead and a pen. Let’s learn contentment because we are learning from a vantage point.
Heavenly Father, thank You for Your abundant blessings. We are a rich people, but like the Israelites, we fail to appreciate Your goodness. Help us truly learn contentment. In Jesus’ name, amen.
DIG DEEPER
HIKING THE TRAIL
What do you “lack?” This is where you will learn contentment.
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How did Paul pray? Discover the prayers of biblical saints and how we can pray with power in Incense Rising: 60 Days to Powerful Prayer
Originally posted on January 4, 2021 @ 3:00 am