Teach me to be Content

Two things I ask of you; deny them not to me before I die: 8Remove far from me falsehood and lying; give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with the food that is needful for me, 9lest I be full and deny you and say, “Who is the Lord?” or lest I be poor and steal and profane the name of my God. (Proverbs 30:7-9)

Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned, in whatever situation I am, to be content. (Philippians 4:11)

At what point do you say, "I've had my eye on that for a while?" What makes the object something you "must have." I am, after all, a man who has a smoker, a grill and a griddle, each having its own designated purpose. With the price of meat these days, I might need none because I cook my vegetables and such in a kitchen with a stove (or air fryer, or microwave, or steamer - all of which I have as well).

So, at what point in life did I go from a stove, pots and pans, and a charcoal grill to having all that I have today? And why did I go there? I didn't buy these things suddenly, mind you. 

I ask all this because our writer in Proverbs 30, not Solomon by the way, makes a significant point: "I don't want to be poor or rich, but I desire sufficient means to have what I need. If I'm rich, I take all the credit. If I'm poor, I take what isn't mine." (Yes, people across the economic strata steal and lie, so Agur, the Oracle - the writer of the proverb - is using extremes to make a point Paul makes as well.)

Our daily prayer is for daily bread. Daily bread sustains us for the day, and we ask for our needs to be met today. Paul says it poetically, "...whatever situation I am, to be content." Contentment is a very hard status to seek and to achieve in our material driven culture. 

We know Christ's words on this from Matthew 6 - "...26 Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?"

What do I need? What do I want? What do I have? Teach me to be content. 

Pray for contentment in all facets of life. In Christ's name, Amen.