When I think about being content, I am often reminded of what Jesus said in Matthew 6:25-33. "25For this reason I say to you, do not be worried about your life, as to what you will eat or what you will dink; nor for your body, as to what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? 26 Look at the birds of the air, that they do not sow, nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they? 27 And who of you by being worried can add a single hour to his life? 28 And why are you worried about clothing? Observe how the lilies of the field grow; they do not toil nor do they spin, 29 yet I say to you that not eve Solomon in all of his glory clothed himself like one of these. 30 But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, will He not much more clothe you? You of little faith! 31 Do not worry then, saying 'What will we eat?' or 'What will we drink?' or 'What will we wear for clothing?' 32 For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. 33 But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you."
So, I ask you all today, would you be content if you had every luxury taken away from you like, TV, Internet, fast food, running water, and you had only your basic needs met (and I do mean basic)? Do you constantly worry about how your clothes look and if they are designer or not, or are you happy to at least have something clean to wear?
Think over these questions, be honest with yourself when you answer. Then think about Jesus said in the passage above. If God provides and cares for the birds in the sky, then just think about how much He has blessed us with luxuries in life, and make sure to thank God for them, and meeting your basic needs in abundance.
4 comments:
Well, tell you what, I have been there....growing up in Russia we had to live with what we had, if we did not have meat to make a sandwich we would just have bread with a slice of cheese, or wait in a long line to get a loaf of bread and many many other things, I could go on and on....but let me tell you this, it is so easy to get used to luxury and yes for some people it is pretty difficult to let it go, I personally know this one individual who used to make a lot of money, then lost his/her job, and obviously the budget now is now what used to be, where that person could have everything he/she wanted, but that person is used to luxury. So many of us take what we have for granted,when I went to Siberia there was no hot showers, only 1 kind of toilet paper ( and no it was not the quilted soft type) when I came back in the states, I had really hard time because I see how people do not appreciate what they have, honestly if some people were to go live in those countries such as smaller village in Russia or Afghanistan, I am afraid they might not be able to survive. I do know people that all about designer brands and all of the material things, but seriously, you cannt take those things to heaven,well and of course its not worth anything there.
also yes, sometimes I am guilty of worrying about things such as where I am going to live.... and recently with my living situation, I have tried to get everything taken care of on my own and it was just not happening, until I let God take care of it, the passage you mentioned above was actually on my mind for few days, and got the answer to my need today.... God is amazing, He really is!
Awesome story Kitten. You know, sometimes I am often reminded of a song by Hank Williams Jr. called something along the lines of "Country Folks Will Survive". It has something to do with if the country was thrown into total anarchy who would survive between city folks and the country folks who are brought up to be self-sufficent. Its kind of interesting when you think about it too, because I have noticed that urbanites do worry a lot more about stuff stuff than country folks. Just some food for thought.
G'day,
I spent some time being homeless and lived in my car, the hardest thing was to get a hot shower. I worried a lot about getting enough food to eat, but I never went hungry. I used that time to study the Bible and became a Christian.
I am better off now and am getting a lot of work (answer to a prayer).
I have a few things now, camera's computer mobile (cell) phone, ect, but if I lost them all tomorrow I know I would still have Jesus and He will answer my prayers.
Awesome Doug. Its unfortunate to hear about some of that bad circumstances that people have been in like yourself, but at the same time its awesome to see how God blesses people, and uses those circumstances to lead people to Him.
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