There’s a lot to be said for contentment.
The episode is shown of what happened when someone thought the grass would be greener on the other side. After all the fruit looked good to eat and if it would actually make them god-like, well what could be wrong with that? The moment that act of disobedience took place the level of disruption to nature’s operations was fatal.
Since then truly being content with your lot has been difficult. It’s difficult because of the deliberate distortion of words like ambition and striving. What should be the heartful pursuit of achieving what God has become watching what the Joneses do and breaking your neck and your back to be just like them.
The thing about the Joneses, however, is that their position was gained through various circumstances that we just don’t know. Maybe it was gained legitimately, maybe some dodgy deals went down. We just do not know. Even if they told you, what they won’t share with you is their personality and character that got the job done. The effort it would take trying to change yourself to be what the Joneses became to become what they did, would ruin your life.
There is the problem.
As you are not like those Joneses, it eats you up inside. They have the flat-screen TV and we simply must have that flat-screen TV. She seems to be so fit and trim and seems to have done that by having a gym membership, so all of a sudden someone else needs to get the gym membership. Of course the six hours a week at the gym is something we cannot manage, neither are we aware of the dietary changes, but still we simply must have that membership.
They are able to have two holidays abroad a year, and we are barely able to get a weekend off to the local seaside. We simply must have those holidays to Vienna and Majorca.
We simply must have it and when we don’t have it we get anxious, we get annoyed, we get antsy. When we eventually get it, the thing doesn’t even give us any sense of a thrill or satisfaction at all. We don’t have the time to watch that much on the flat-screen TV and what we do watch on it will tend to be rubbish. We can’t make it to the gym often enough to make it worthwhile. Add the holidays to rained out areas that we don’t even enjoy and all we end up being is broke quicker.
That’s not just an issue that affects material envy. When it comes to positions people hold and we crave them – that’s a surefire way of losing our peace. When people express a happiness because of a new hobby they have, or new friends in their circle and we crave that – that’s a surefire way of losing our peace.
So many traps in so many parts of life that seeks to rob us of our peace by making us dissatisfied with our position preferring what others have. The way it works into the system and upsets everything truly is tragic.
What does the book of wisdom suggest? Gaining the heart at peace. This heart is one that learns to be content in whatever position it finds itself. We can find that contentment from knowing the Source from which all blessings come. If we focus on Him and thank Him for giving us what we need for the day, we won’t have the time to be overly concerned with the new car Fred has, the mobile phone John just got, the pair of shoes Kate got or the lovely hair-do Maggie got.
Indeed if we focussed more on what we’ve already been given and how the Giver wants us to use that, our faithfulness in that makes us better equipped if we should get anything more. In fact if we rejoiced over looking at the many blessings we have – even in the midst of apparent disadvantage – would find the ‘secret’ of being content in every situation.
Perhaps that would stop the bone rotting. Leave the poor Joneses alone!
For His Name’s Sake
Shalom
C. L. J. Dryden
Life With CD 