Contentment In Christ
I felt led today to write this post because of something that my girlfriend and I were talking about this morning.
She was gently reminding me of our contentment in Christ and how it’s important for us as believers to be content in Christ no matter the cost.
I had all day to ponder about the true meaning of contentment in Christ, and also the importance of it as well.
I thought long and hard about my life and if I am truly content in Christ and the things in which He has blessed me beyond deservance.
God has been amazingly gracious in my life and He has allowed for me, great opportunites to be involved in such a great church, to have a wonderful family, to be blessed with great friends, and the amazing blessing of being able to be with the love of my life that I have been with for 4 years!
There are also other things that I have been blessed with and also seeing what a great country we live in, I can’t help but thank the Lord for His providence in my life.
As knowing of the blessings, am I content in which I have?
I can say, “sure!”, but deep down inside am I thankful and content in what I have been given? After all, I haven’t earned any of these things nor am I deserving of any of it (nor are any of us), yet God still blesses us.
Afterall, God gave us the greatest gift of all, in which every person on the face of the earth is completely undeserving, which is His only begotten Son, the Savior of our sins, the Master we serve, the One who shed His innocent blood on our behalf for the forgiveness of our sins upon the cross, “The Man”, as Pontius Pilate said, Jesus Christ.
Now the question arises. If God asked me to leave all that I have and to sell it, would I be able to do so? I’d like to think I’d say yes, and in all honesty, can we say that for ourself?
It’s harder to say, “yes,” than I think most of us believe for it to be.
Do you remember the rich, young ruler who approached Jesus and asked Him a very important question?
Read the account here: Luke 18:18-27
18 And a ruler asked him, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”
19 And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone.
20 You know the commandments: ‘Do not commit adultery, Do not murder, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Honor your father and mother.’”
21 And he said, “All these I have kept from my youth.”
22 When Jesus heard this, he said to him, “One thing you still lack. Sell all that you have and distribute to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.”
23 But when he heard these things, he became very sad, for he was extremely rich.
24 Jesus, seeing that he had become sad, said, “How difficult it is for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God!
25 For it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.”
26 Those who heard it said, “Then who can be saved?”
27 But he said, “What is impossible with men is possible with God.”
I think a lot of times we can fall into the category with the rich young ruler. We can ask the Lord, “Father, what may I do to serve you better?” And He replies, “Sell what you have, or leave what you have and follow me.”
What is our response? Are we slow to answer? Do we have to count the cost of what we are leaving behind to make our decision? Can we truly leave all we possess to follow Him?
It’s a tough question, but let us be honest with ourself. What in life do I desire? What in life do I enjoy?
What do I spend most of time doing? Think about that for yourself as many people have different thigs that consume our time.
Now with that in mind, could you or I give it up to follow Christ? Afterall, we know every good and perfect gift comes from above and we have done nothing to earn them. It’s God given anyway.
We as Americans have been blessed and I think that we have taken the blessing for granted far too much.
I’m not saying that you go and sell all you have to follow God and give up everything, what I am saying is, if it came to that would you be able to do so?
If our contentment is completely in Christ then we have nothing to worry about, but I fear many of us would have a hard time giving up what we have to follow Him completely and truly.
It’s a gentle reminder that was laid on my heart and may we allow it to resonate within our heart. Let us pray and ask the Lord to continue to sanctify us and give us a heart of gratitude.
Grace and Peace to you all!
Brad Ormonde Jr.
