5 Your life should be free from the love of money. Be satisfied with what you have, for He Himself has said, I will never leave you or forsake you. 6 Therefore, we may boldly say: The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?Hebrews 13.5-6 (HCSB)

I’ve been thinking a lot this week about contentment, and the lack thereof. Discontentment is a disease, and it takes away your joy and it takes away your peace. So then what is contentment? Contentment is not getting what you want, but it is wanting what you already have. You see, contentment will make a poor man rich. And discontentment makes a poor man poor. That’s the one poor man said to a rich man, “I’m richer than you are.” He said, “Why’s that?” He said, “Because I have everything I want, and you don’t.” You see, no matter how much you have, if you’re discontented, you’re really poor. Sometimes we want things we don’t need. Sometimes we “need” things we don’t need. And we get all mixed up.

Our verse says, Be satisfied with what you have. First Timothy Chapter 6 – “But godliness with contentment is great gain.” Let me tell you something, you are so rich today, if you know the Lord and if you’re content. I am telling you, that is great gain. If you know Jesus Christ, and you have contentment. And then he explains it, “For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. But having food and clothing let us be content with that.” If you’ve got something on your back, and something to eat, and you have Jesus Christ in your heart, you’re blessed!

Why can’t material things bring contentment? Well Jesus explained it in Luke Chapter 12 and verse 15, He said, “Take heed and beware of covetousness, for a man’s life does not consist in the abundance of the things which he possesses.” How true that is. Your deepest needs will never be met by material things. Nothing wrong with material things, they just simply cannot satisfy the deepest longing of your heart.

Do you remember with the Bible says in Psalm 37 and verse 4? I love it. It says “Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desire of your heart.” Now that doesn’t mean that you’ll have every surface need met, every whim, every fancy, every lust of your eyes, and your flesh satisfied. Oh no. It means when you find all in Jesus Christ, when you delight yourself in the Lord, what your heart has really been seeking for, it will find. That’s what that verse means. Delight yourself in the Lord and you’ll have the desire of your heart. What your heart really yearns for is God.

Now, he’s talking here about living a life without fear. Do you know why we have fear? We have fear sometimes because we think our needs are not going to be met. Or because we think that the things we think are meeting our needs are going to be taken away from us. Well in this verse, he’s going to tell us that God will never leave us nor forsake us, and godliness with contentment is great gain, we have something that can’t be tampered with.

We’re hearing a lot of talk today about the “r” word, recession. Back in 1929 and 1930 when the stock market crashed, there were men who jumped out of skyscrapers, committed suicide. Why? Because the things they were trying to satisfy their heart with, they lost. That’s where the security was. Well friend, you better have your security, and your sufficiency and your satisfaction in something that can’t be tampered with. In Hebrews 10:34, talking to these people, he said, “Why you took joyfully of the seizure of your goods…” Suppose today soldiers were to come in, go into your house, and carry out all of your material possessions. Could you still praise the Lord? If you’re delighted in the Lord you could. “Delight yourself in the Lord, and He’ll give you the desire of your heart.” Be content with such things as you have. Do you know the word content literally means self-contained? It’s used in Philippians Chapter 4 and Paul says in verse 11, “Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, in that I will be content.”
And then he said, “I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me.” And that literally means, I can do all things through Christ who is pouring His life into me.

You see, learn a life of contentment. Have the contentment of His provision. Christ himself. The deepest need of your heart can be met in the Lord Jesus Christ.

That’s real contentment!