The big question for today is, can we find contentment in things?

Have you ever listened to a very successful person complain about the fact that his wealth doesn’t make him happy? How the success of life has left him or her empty? Of course, you have. We’ve all heard stories like that, but pay attention to that—because it’s really important.

Watch people roll their eyes when they hear those stories. Why do they do that? Because they’re thinking, “Yeah, just give me some of that emptiness. I’d like to live on that side of town for a while,” but that attitude misses the point that’s trying to be made. From the past to now, there have been at least multiple millions of these stories, these laments from very successful people who would trade it all to be content. Millions and millions of successful, but unhappy people.

It’s when we’re confronted with numbers like that, that we should say to ourselves, “Wait a second…I need to think that through. Maybe having things and fame and success really doesn’t satisfy.” It’s then we start walking the right road to contentment.

April Motl is a writer in California who works with her husband in ministry. Recently, she made a fascinating point. She said, “About six months ago, my husband said he thought the Lord was trying to teach him to be content with mediocrity. ‘Mediocrity? Never! We should always be striving for the best,’ I thought to myself. But in light of a few life lessons of my own, I think I now understand what my husband was saying. It’s easy for us to want the best life has to offer, but sometimes ‘the best’ is learning to be content with what we have.”

Hebrews 13:5 says, “Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have. Because God has said, never will I leave you. Never will I forsake you.”

You don’t actually need to hear another story of unfulfillment from someone you’ve admired to know that stuff doesn’t ultimately satisfy. You have only to think about your own life and realize that what God has given you materially is not the ultimate prize. It’s only when you’re in harmony with Him that you begin to know a life of contentment.

Let’s pray.

Father, we know in our hearts that things don’t bring fulfillment. That fact is plain to us, no matter how much we have. Help us be mindful that in you alone, we find the desires of our hearts. Remind us daily not to pin our hopes for the future on what we can acquire today. In Jesus’ name, amen.

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