It is true that people do most of what they do to find contentment. For although Aristotle's theory that all things vigorously seek their place of rest--for a rock this would be the ground, and for hot air it would be the higher reaches of the sky--was wrong when it was applied to motion, it still holds true today for the human spirit, which is always seeking rest and peace--albeit in the wrong places. And this is a very plain and logical state for mankind to be in, for contentment is a very beautiful thing. Its earthly value is priceless, bringing peace to the soul in a way similar to the sweet, soothing words of forgiveness relieving a lifetime of hurt. Contentment delivers from bondage so severe and tortuous; it is a liberator. It is refreshing life-water to a dying soul whose existence is slowly being erased by the stress and anxiety of selfish ambition, success, and the expectations of others; it is a life-giver. It sustains a human soul in many ways for it has a value that is eternal.
Nevertheless, though Contentment is pursued by most everybody, he is understood by very few. It is not that Contentment is elusive, he is not trying to hide from anybody. It's simply that the one place that he can be found is the one place people don't want to look. You must understand that most people who pursue contentment have it backwards and upside-down. They believe that you must gain to know contentment, when in actuality his requirement is to lose everything.
Yes, that is the requirement, but as you can imagine, that is just not good enough for some people. It goes against their every instinct, so they disregard that standard with vehemence and loathing. They say, "What kind of fool would be taken in by such a fabrication as that?!?" Not them that's for sure. Instead, they let their sin--pride, greed, selfishness--create another "Contentment". One who they can know simply by having a certain measure of success and obtaining enough property. Yes, this is a contentment that they seek to know, that they vigorously desire to know. For--they reason--it is perfectly sound and logical that they should meet and know contentment by obtaining more of the things that give them pleasure. Furthermore, they ask themselves--for in their hearts there is a small voice whose words seem to contradict their reason,"Why on earth, as the Bible would like me to believe, would I give up all that has brought me happiness to find contentment? That's like asking me to die so that I might live!"
But what they have created is an illusion. They themselves have been taken in by a fabrication and have spit in the face of the truth. They are driven by money and pleasure, and those two are not easy taskmasters. They have forsaken the light burden and easy yoke of Jesus (Matthew 11:30) and have willingly--but ignorantly--donned an ever-increasing weight of sin that will reward them with eternal punishment at their lives' end. They've bought into a lie!
So these seekers of a false contentment continue their pursuit of that which cannot be found on the path which they have chosen. Along the way, many worldly others will look upon the lives of these pursuers of "Contentment", upon everything that they have accomplished and obtained carnally, and marvel at their success, and even be inspired by it. Yet to the very end, the pursuers could never genuinely say that they had been successful in their ultimate goal, in that which put them on this wild tear for property and success in the first place. Namely, to know contentment. In the end, they possessed nothing but loneliness, despair, and an ever-present, gnawing sense that they had missed the point; that what they had gained throughout all of their years was now utterly worthless.
And even now as they lay on their deathbed reflecting on their lives, weeping at all the opportunities to make a lasting difference in the lives others that they had casually ignored, writhing at the gaping hole within their heart as they come to grips with the fact that they have gone through life without any substantial, meaningful purpose, I see Contentment weeping by their side. He remembers all the opportunities at life--eternal life--that they let slip through their grasp. Oh, how he wanted to get to know them. Oh, how he wanted to be their companion in life, unmoving and faithful. Oh how he wanted to comfort them even now, yet they refused God's voice and refused to let Him free them from the bondage to which they had submitted themselves over their lifetime. They loved their other life too much, though it was slowly killing them. God had revealed Himself to them throughout their lives in so many different ways, in so many different scenarios, yet their hearts had grown hard. And as they sped along the highway of life at 100 mph in the vehicle of success, Purpose, Destiny, and true Life were all dumped by the side of the road so as not to slow their "progress" down.
Nevertheless, though Contentment is pursued by most everybody, he is understood by very few. It is not that Contentment is elusive, he is not trying to hide from anybody. It's simply that the one place that he can be found is the one place people don't want to look. You must understand that most people who pursue contentment have it backwards and upside-down. They believe that you must gain to know contentment, when in actuality his requirement is to lose everything.
Yes, that is the requirement, but as you can imagine, that is just not good enough for some people. It goes against their every instinct, so they disregard that standard with vehemence and loathing. They say, "What kind of fool would be taken in by such a fabrication as that?!?" Not them that's for sure. Instead, they let their sin--pride, greed, selfishness--create another "Contentment". One who they can know simply by having a certain measure of success and obtaining enough property. Yes, this is a contentment that they seek to know, that they vigorously desire to know. For--they reason--it is perfectly sound and logical that they should meet and know contentment by obtaining more of the things that give them pleasure. Furthermore, they ask themselves--for in their hearts there is a small voice whose words seem to contradict their reason,"Why on earth, as the Bible would like me to believe, would I give up all that has brought me happiness to find contentment? That's like asking me to die so that I might live!"
But what they have created is an illusion. They themselves have been taken in by a fabrication and have spit in the face of the truth. They are driven by money and pleasure, and those two are not easy taskmasters. They have forsaken the light burden and easy yoke of Jesus (Matthew 11:30) and have willingly--but ignorantly--donned an ever-increasing weight of sin that will reward them with eternal punishment at their lives' end. They've bought into a lie!
So these seekers of a false contentment continue their pursuit of that which cannot be found on the path which they have chosen. Along the way, many worldly others will look upon the lives of these pursuers of "Contentment", upon everything that they have accomplished and obtained carnally, and marvel at their success, and even be inspired by it. Yet to the very end, the pursuers could never genuinely say that they had been successful in their ultimate goal, in that which put them on this wild tear for property and success in the first place. Namely, to know contentment. In the end, they possessed nothing but loneliness, despair, and an ever-present, gnawing sense that they had missed the point; that what they had gained throughout all of their years was now utterly worthless.
And even now as they lay on their deathbed reflecting on their lives, weeping at all the opportunities to make a lasting difference in the lives others that they had casually ignored, writhing at the gaping hole within their heart as they come to grips with the fact that they have gone through life without any substantial, meaningful purpose, I see Contentment weeping by their side. He remembers all the opportunities at life--eternal life--that they let slip through their grasp. Oh, how he wanted to get to know them. Oh, how he wanted to be their companion in life, unmoving and faithful. Oh how he wanted to comfort them even now, yet they refused God's voice and refused to let Him free them from the bondage to which they had submitted themselves over their lifetime. They loved their other life too much, though it was slowly killing them. God had revealed Himself to them throughout their lives in so many different ways, in so many different scenarios, yet their hearts had grown hard. And as they sped along the highway of life at 100 mph in the vehicle of success, Purpose, Destiny, and true Life were all dumped by the side of the road so as not to slow their "progress" down.
Now, as they are breathing their few final breaths, the words of Paul are like salt on an open wound:
I know how to get along with humble means, and I also know how to live in prosperity; in any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need. ~ Philippians 4:12
But how true and joy-inspiring they are to those who intimately know their Savior, for it is in Him that true contentment is found. You find contentment worshiping and praising Him; getting to know Him. You find contentment obeying His commands, and those are to lose your life so that you may find; to go lower and serve so that you may go higher in Christ; to give generously what God has given you, so that you can experience righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Ghost (Rom. 14:17). That's life. That's contentment: the indwelling of Kingdom in our lives and its outworking into the lives of others. It's the manifestation of the incarnate Christ on the inside of people, shining out from us to the world. And it gives me such joy that doing this thing--establishing and experiencing kingdom life which restores and replaces brokenness with wholeness--is commanded of us as children by Jesus, for I know then that He has provided us with the Way in which to do it. Yes, He has in fact given us Himself to do this great work. And oh, the joy, oh the peace, oh the contentment that is experienced by a Kingdom worker, and which brands him.
Praise be to the King whose kingdom we have the privilege to further!
No comments:
Post a Comment