PLEASE, BE CONTENT!

PLEASE, BE CONTENT! 

Greed only gets people into trouble. And we can avoid this just by being content.

Greed will destroy a person, any person; regardless of who they are. If Greed can find its way into a person’s life they are well on their way to destruction.

According to the Oxford Learner’s Dictionaries, one of the definitions of the word Greed is this: “a strong desire for more wealth, possessions, power etc. than a person needs.”

We all have wants and we all have needs. The things we want are not necessarily the things that we need. While some of them are nice-to- have most of them are not must-haves and we can certainly do without them.
The Bible is very clear about moderation in everything. “Let your moderation be known to all men. The Lord is at hand.”  Philippians 4:5 KJV We are also told this “But godliness with contentment is great gain.” 1 Timothy 6:6KJV

Some people in the Bible were not content with their positions of power, wealth and authority. They became consumed by Greed and they were destroyed.
Let us look at the example of Satan, who was was an angel of God whom God called “son of the morning” – which is Lucifer. There was a relationship between God and Lucifer. But Lucifer became discontent and wanted what God had. And that destroyed everything. “How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north:I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.” Isaiah 14: 12-14 KJV Lucifer wanted to be more powerful than God his creator and he bacame rebellious and a stench to heaven.

Judas Iscariot was one of the twelve, one of the disciples whom Jesus picked out by himself. Yet he did not change his ways after spending time with Jesus. He was even put in charge of finance but he still did not change his ways. It was as if he learnt absolutely nothing from the Master. Once when a woman displayed love and honour for Jesus by anointing him with very costly perfume, Judas became irritable and said she should have sold it instead and given the money to the poor.“He did not say this because he cared about the poor but because he was a thief; as keeper of the money bag, he used to help himself to what was put into it.” John 12:6 NIV  Though Judas had access to the money bag and the money inside it,  he still wanted more money to the point where he betrayed Jesus for 30 pieces of silver. He eventually hung himself.

There is also the story of Gehazi, an assistant to prophet Elisha. His position was no doubt a powerful one because as a Personal Assistant of sorts, people had to go through him to see the great prophet. It is likely that Gehazi had been used to collecting gifts from people who came to see the prophet. But on this one occasion, when the prophet gave instructions to a Syrian army General, Naaman, on what to do to be cleansed and healed of his skin condition, the prophet refused any gifts from the General. But Gehazi ran after the General and lied that his boss Elisha had changed his mind and would be happy to receive any gifts in appreciation of the General’s healing. Sadly, Elisha cursed Gehazi and transferred Naaman’s skin disease to Gehazi and his descendants forever.

An attitude of gratitude is what we must have. Positions, situations and circumstances can change overnight.  So we should always let God know we are grateful for where ever we are. Apostle Paul told us this “Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done.” Philippians 4:6 NLT  Paul said we should tell God what we need (and not what we want) because sometimes our wants are just excesses and extremes that we can very well do without.

Paul further said “l know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do all this through him (Christ) who gives me strength.”  Philippians 4:12-13 NIV

It is Jesus who gives us the strength to be content in every situation. Let us stay in his presence and be content.

OLUYINKA EGO-MARTINS ©