Our Eyes Aren’t Satisfied — Morning Devotions

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Transcript

There was a French classical writer who used to say, when we cannot find contentment in ourselves, it’s useless to seek it elsewhere. I think it’s very true. How often have we seen people who are dissatisfied and never content? Just mentioning the quote again, he said, when we cannot find contentment in ourselves, it’s useless to seek it elsewhere.

TV advertising makes out that we need to buy the biggest and the latest, and we won’t be happy until we do buy it. Go and buy today. You won’t regret it, so says the advertisement. It seems that the people in charge of the advertising agencies seek to encourage discontentment. It’s their job to create a desire in you for that product, so you’ll go and buy it whether you’ve got the money or not. And whether you really need it or not is immaterial. Their job is to get you to want it.

What we are led into

Do you remember the movie Wall Street? Michael Douglas, he played the part of the Wall Street entrepreneur Gordon Gekko, and he had those three words. Greed is good. Do you remember that? And many today subscribe to this philosophy that greed is good. And that’s why the Bible says in Proverbs 27:20, the eyes of men are never satisfied.

True, isn’t it? We can find our relationship with other people can be strained because why, they have more than we do, and we can blame God by saying, Well, God, you know, you didn’t give me enough. And I think deep down in all of us we sense that this is not the right attitude. In fact, the Bible teaches that covetousness, and there’s that word, covetousness is a sin.

If you’re not sure of that, read the 10 commandments for yourself, and you’ll soon discover it talks of the of the commandment that says you shall not covet.

Now covetousness is the opposite of contentment. People end up feeling empty and unhappy deep down inside. And so we need to deal with the feeling of envy. And if we live for Jesus, if each day we give our lives to Him, we will find a fulfilment and freedom.

The Jewish rabbis had a saying that was, Who is rich? He that is contented with his lot, and that’s very true. The tragedy is that some people are driven to accumulate more and more things, and this can become an all-consuming drive. In fact, in an English cemetery, there’s a grave marker that says she died for want of things, and alongside was another gravestone that read He died trying to give them to her.

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To be content doesn’t mean being lazy or not having motivation or ambition. A person can be motivated and have great drive and still be contented. I wonder if that’s you. Contentment is a state of mind. It’s not based really on what’s happening around you or the circumstances of your life. And the Bible has a small verse in 1 Timothy chapter 6, verse 6, and it simply says this Godliness with contentment is great gain.

So the key to contentment is godliness. Without a true and vital spiritual relationship with God, you really cannot be content. You see, contentment comes from Him, from God, and it’s God that can fill your life with contentment. So no matter what’s happening in your life today, you might have bad health, there might be problems in relationships, or you might be out of a job; however, God can fill your heart with contentment, and if you’re content, you can face the issues of life – I think in a much better way.

Hebrews 13:5-6 and the New Testament says: Keep your lives free from the love of money and be satisfied with what you have, for God has said, I will never leave you. I will never abandon you.

Let’s be bold and say, for the Lord is my helper, I will not be afraid.

If we are content in God, we will not have a need to covet other things. Why? Because God is our helper, and He’s involved in every area of our life, so we need to be content with what He’s provided for us in life and thank Him. So I think the real key to contentment is focusing on what you have instead of what you do not have. So don’t complain, thank God for His goodness to you.

Let’s Pray

Well, Heavenly Father, we thank you today that contentment is something there that’s special. It comes from you. Help us to be content with all our ways as we acknowledge you as the Lord and saviour of our life, the giver of all good things, and I thank you in Jesus’ name. Amen.

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