Contentment

I was just listening to Ecclesiastes on MP3. I thought of the many people that knows the Lord, but think that just a little more money will solve their problems. Solomon, the wise, fell into a very similar trap. He tells us all about it in Ecclesiastes. He did what most of us would do, he spent vast sums trying to make himself happy. "Vanities of vanities" is his conclusion. It's all in vain, fleeting, temporary joy followed by increasing misery. Paul, the Apostle, found the true key to happiness, as concerns wealth...

Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content. I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound: every where and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me. (Philippians 4:11-13)

Note, he says "I have learned... to be content". He didn't say, "I was miraculously gifted with contentment." Contentment is a choice, that becomes easier with practice. Therefore learn to be content. (Words for me, to practice as well!) Of course we live in a day and age where advertisers spend millions of dollars trying to steal our contentment. Personally, I just avoid watching TV, though I do occasionally make the mistake of browsing catalogues... If you didn't know that you "needed" something until you saw it in a catalogue (or in a TV advertisement), then you probably don't need it. ;-)