Read: Ecclesiastes 5:10-12, 1 Timothy 6:6-10
"Wouldn't it be nice!" Regularly this familiar Beach Boys tune warbles out of our television speakers tempting us to consider what we would do if we won the lottery and 'had it all'. Even if you have never heard the song or seen the advertisements I'm sure, at least once in your life, you've been tempted to think, "What would I do with that money". At my old workplace this was a common conversation, "what would you do if you won the $xx million dollars the lottery is worth this week" or "I would be happy if I could just have a fraction of that to do..."
As human beings we are naturally tempted by these questions and musings. If not the lottery then we place our hopes for happiness in something else. Thinking to ourselves, "if I just earnt $X every year, that would be enough", "if I could drive this car everyone would finally admire and respect me", "if I could live in this mansion, that would make me happy" or "if I could only afford this holiday I would be satisfied." Sometimes we even strive for these imaginary goals, telling ourselves that it will be enough once we get just that little bit (or that big bit) more.
Solomon recognised the danger of such an approach to life. "Whoever loves money never has money enough; whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with His income."
His idea is this: greed is never satisfied. As we seek after and desire more and more things, more and more income and more and more wealth we will never be satisfied. We will always want better, bigger, faster and more expensive. If we say "when I earn $100,000 a year I'll be happy" we will soon find ourselves saying "actually, when I need to earn $200,000 a year." Our desire to acquire and consume will never be satisfied until we ourselves are consumed by our own desires.
Paul warned Timothy about the destructive nature of this kind of desire in 1 Timothy 6. He talks about this destructive cycle in verse 9, "People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction."
He even tells Timothy that He has seen such people whose pursuit of wealth has taken them away from the only source of true wealth, Jesus Christ.
The antidote to such a terrible trap? Contentment. Paul says that godliness with contentment is great gain and that if he has food and clothing then he will choose to be content with that.
We can be content no matter our circumstances because of all that Christ has done for us and the promise that He will always look after us. Whether poor or rich, free or imprisoned, respected or reviled we can always be content in Christ.
Where greed is a trap that brings ruin and destruction contentment brings great gain and freedom.
We must cultivate this sort of contentment in our hearts through regular prayer, praise for who God is and thanking Him for all that He has done for us.
Prayer: Write down your prayer points in the space provided. Use today’s reading to help you get ideas.
Adoration:
Confession:
Thanks:
Supplication:
- Praise God for all that He provides for His people. Thank Him that He provided righteousness for us through Christ and ultimately power through the Holy Spirit. Pray that He would grow contentment in your heart and that you might always look to Him for your satisfaction and pleasure.
- Pray for the children of your church. Pray that God would continue to watch over them as they grow that they might mature to love Him and to serve Him with their lives. Pray that they would grow in wisdom and understanding as they learn at school, at home and at church. Pray that wherever they go that they would be an example of Christ.
My Additional Prayer Points
Discussion Questions for families and groups
- What things are you tempted to desire and put your hope for satisfaction in?
- Honestly, how would you often complete this statement: "If I only had __________ I would be happy."
- How can you cultivate satisfaction in God instead of these things?
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