Contentedness

…does not come from earthly pleasures

Ecclesiastes 4:8 there was a man all alone; he had neither son nor brother. There was no end to his toil, yet his eyes were not content with his wealth. "For whom am I toiling," he asked, "and why am I depriving myself of enjoyment?" This too is meaningless—a miserable business!

It comes from delighting in the Lord; he is the desire that our hearts long for.

Psalm 37:4Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart.


Therefore we should not try and find our joy in earthly things, not that those things are necessarily bad in themselves, but instead our contentedness comes from the Lord. He is steadfast and will always be our greatest joy.

Hebrews 13:5Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, "Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you."

Not only will he never leave us, but he will never be anything less than our greatest joy.

I think that every time we sin, we’re saying we want to find contentedness in the world and not in God. So even though we all know it, and I stand condemned as perpetrator of this, I exhort all of you to not find your contentedness in these worldly possessions, but in the Lord.