Contentment
I was going through some old email devotions and stumbled across this one about contentment. I know many of us are feeling burnt out, stressed out, inundated with our jobs and school and whatever else we may be facing in our lives now. Read and meditate on these words.
The story is told of a local fisherman who was found relaxing by the seashore. An industrialist wandered by and inquired of his intentions for the day.
“What are you doing sir?” asked the industrialist.
“I’ve caught enough fish to feed my family and pay my bills, so I am enjoying God’s creation,” responded the fisherman.
“But sir, don’t you understand?” replied the industrialist, “If you would keep fishing throughout the day, you could make more money and eventually buy
more ships.” “If you kept investing your money you would someday be as rich as I,” suggested the industrialist.
“Why would I want to do that,” asked the fisherman.
“Well, don’t you see? You could eventually retire and vacation on a beach somewhere and simply lay back and enjoy God’s creation,” added the industrialist.
“Isn’t that what I am doing now?” responded the fisherman.
We often get so involved in making a living that we forget to construct a life. The Apostle Paul encouraged us to learn contentment. Contentment lies not in how much you own, but in how much you give. Let us learn to be happy whatever our estate.
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Aug 25th, 2004 at 18:10:05
That’s a great story to put things in perspective. I guess the Matthew “Do not worry about tomorrow…” fits that too. We often miss out on today by worrying about tomorrow (or our future in general).
Aug 29th, 2004 at 22:16:10
Yes you are right Ash. It is hard to just live today as God has given us without thinking of where we are suppose to go tomorrow or the next day or 5 years from now.
Though we also need to have an understanding of the path ahead or we may never get to where God wants us to be, because we are not listening to His call and understanding.