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The Path to Abundant Living (part 2) (1 Timothy 6:6,8a
6 But godliness with contentment is great gain… 8 But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that.
There is a serious issue that I've seen too many times over the years when it comes to the idea of contentment, and that is that Christians ought to be satisfied with the status quo. I completely reject that idea.
In the beginning, we read "God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground" (Gen. 1:28). I read "subdue it" and to take responsibility for it, tame it, control it, be good stewards over it, and grow it.
When Jesus tells the parable of the talents in Matt. 25, he commends the two servants who have invested the resources that were entrusted to them, saw the investment grow, and showed a return of 100% on their money. "Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful in the little things; I'm going to put you in charge of bigger things."
Opportunities come as a result of problems. Every time you take a medication for an illness or issue, it's because others had the same illness or issue, and along came a pharmacist who invested time, effort and money to solve that problem.
Every time you get a new item - let's use a cell phone as an example - it's because someone saw a problem, and set out to solve it in some way.
When I wrote about 1 Timothy 5:21, I told the story of a problem I faced about 25 years ago: cataracts. On the morning of my first surgery, I determined to treat this as a learning experience. When they froze my right eye - the most painful part of the procedure - everything went a dark grey, so that I could not see what the surgeon was doing. My left eye was covered, so all I have was touch and hearing to know what was going on. Three weeks later, it was time to replace the cornea in my left eye. This time, when they froze it, the world didn't go dark grey. In fact, I was able to watch as the surgeon (you may want to look away now) used the scalpel to make an incision just above my pupil, reach in with tweezers to remove the damaged cornea, use other implements to poke around a little to make sure everything else was healthy, pull the incision open a little so he could slide an implant into place, and then allow the incision to close. I remember asking, "Do you have to crazy-glue the incision to keep it closed?" "No, it seals itself." I then responded, "Wow! That takes an amazing designer!" To which the surgeon replied, "Huh."
My cataracts resulted in an opportunity to learn more than just about cataracts! Some day, I'll write about my hip replacement. And then my new reverse shoulder replacement! You're watching the bionic man here!
So, when you see a problem, are you to be content? Or are you to seek a solution? Again, opportunities come as a result of problems. And opportunities bring about growth.
When God puts a challenge right in front of your nose, how do you view it? The possible answers are probably too many to list, but here are a few:
1. I guess God wants me to suffer in this problem.
2. I guess God wants to teach me something through this problem.
3. I guess God wants me to find a solution for this problem.
4. I guess God wants me to find a solution for this problem that will benefit others.
So the question comes down to this: When confronted with a problem, which presents itself also as an opportunity, what would the Lord want you to do with it? My answer is also going to be very heavily weighted toward growth, for myself and others.
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By Phil Routly6 But godliness with contentment is great gain… 8 But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that.
There is a serious issue that I've seen too many times over the years when it comes to the idea of contentment, and that is that Christians ought to be satisfied with the status quo. I completely reject that idea.
In the beginning, we read "God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground" (Gen. 1:28). I read "subdue it" and to take responsibility for it, tame it, control it, be good stewards over it, and grow it.
When Jesus tells the parable of the talents in Matt. 25, he commends the two servants who have invested the resources that were entrusted to them, saw the investment grow, and showed a return of 100% on their money. "Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful in the little things; I'm going to put you in charge of bigger things."
Opportunities come as a result of problems. Every time you take a medication for an illness or issue, it's because others had the same illness or issue, and along came a pharmacist who invested time, effort and money to solve that problem.
Every time you get a new item - let's use a cell phone as an example - it's because someone saw a problem, and set out to solve it in some way.
When I wrote about 1 Timothy 5:21, I told the story of a problem I faced about 25 years ago: cataracts. On the morning of my first surgery, I determined to treat this as a learning experience. When they froze my right eye - the most painful part of the procedure - everything went a dark grey, so that I could not see what the surgeon was doing. My left eye was covered, so all I have was touch and hearing to know what was going on. Three weeks later, it was time to replace the cornea in my left eye. This time, when they froze it, the world didn't go dark grey. In fact, I was able to watch as the surgeon (you may want to look away now) used the scalpel to make an incision just above my pupil, reach in with tweezers to remove the damaged cornea, use other implements to poke around a little to make sure everything else was healthy, pull the incision open a little so he could slide an implant into place, and then allow the incision to close. I remember asking, "Do you have to crazy-glue the incision to keep it closed?" "No, it seals itself." I then responded, "Wow! That takes an amazing designer!" To which the surgeon replied, "Huh."
My cataracts resulted in an opportunity to learn more than just about cataracts! Some day, I'll write about my hip replacement. And then my new reverse shoulder replacement! You're watching the bionic man here!
So, when you see a problem, are you to be content? Or are you to seek a solution? Again, opportunities come as a result of problems. And opportunities bring about growth.
When God puts a challenge right in front of your nose, how do you view it? The possible answers are probably too many to list, but here are a few:
1. I guess God wants me to suffer in this problem.
2. I guess God wants to teach me something through this problem.
3. I guess God wants me to find a solution for this problem.
4. I guess God wants me to find a solution for this problem that will benefit others.
So the question comes down to this: When confronted with a problem, which presents itself also as an opportunity, what would the Lord want you to do with it? My answer is also going to be very heavily weighted toward growth, for myself and others.