Key Words: let us be therewith content
In our Scripture reading for today, Paul is dealing with false teachers who are teaching the false doctrine that “gain is Godliness.” So Paul responds to that by saying it is not money and material possessions that reveal our Godliness; it is Godliness with contentment that is great gain (verse 6).
It was Davit Thoreau who said that a man is wealthy in proportion to the number of things he can afford to do without. But we live in a world that majors on our contentment being in things.
This reminds me of a story I read recently. Once a rich industrialist, disturbed to find a fisherman sitting idly by his boat, asked, “Why aren’t you out there fishing?”
“Because I’ve caught enough fish for the day,” was the reply.
“Why don’t you catch more fish than you need?” asked the rich man.
“What would I do with them?”
“You could earn money and buy a better boat so you could go deeper and catch more fish. You could purchase nylon nets, catch even more fish, and make more money. Soon you’d have a fleet of boats and be rich like me.”
“Then what would I do?” asked the fisherman.
“You could sit down and enjoy life.”
“What do you think I am doing now?” the fisherman replied.
We do need to be reminded occasionally that contentment is found not in having everything I want but in not wanting to have everything.
What to do:
✞Re-evaluate your priorities and see if Christ is at the top of the list.
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