Be Content

Heb 13:5 Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.

When I was a boy growing up, some things about the old churches and some of the newer ones stuck in my mind. I remember the old Mount Pleasant Baptist Church that we attended. A gravel country road was the way to get there and a board bridge at the bottom of a steep hill just before the church yard. Dad would gun the car to get a run at the hill and when we hit the bridge, the noise was deafening. Mother would complain at Dad about going so fast and I just knew we were going to end up in the 'crick.' The Church was an old one room stucco building and was lighted by four huge brass Coleman lanterns hanging from the ceiling. I was fascinated to watch them pump them up and light them. It was a typical old country church with hard wooden pews, and heated by a large coal burning stove.

I remember the dinners on the grounds when after the Sunday morning service everyone would bring all kinds of good things to eat, fresh fried chicken, potato salad, baked beans, roast beef, green beans and just about anything you would want. It was all served on an old wood board table nailed between two trees in the church yard and spread with chicken feed sack table cloths. I remember stories told about the graveyard that was right by the church; that an angel would visit the graveyard every night at 12:00 midnight. Of course I believed the stories, and got the willies every time I heard them.

I remember the Fundamental Baptist Church in Walnut Grove, Missouri. I remember the revivals they had there that would last as much as three or four weeks. It was at one of these revivals preached by Bro. Charles Miles where I was saved. My step brother, Bob Kile, who is in Heaven now, would take me and my sister Patsy to church every Sunday. I was always in trouble because I wasn't interested in what was going on so much, and would sit with my friend and cut up. When I got home I was usually very sorry for my conduct in church, but had forgotten about being in trouble when the next Sunday rolled around.

When I was in my teens we attended the High Street Baptist Church in Springfield, Missouri. It was a large church with an attendance of about 3000. Bro. Bill Dowell was the pastor; a very dynamic preacher who evidently had the power of God upon his ministry. He would cry out against sin and plead for sinners to come and be saved. Bro. Dowell was a big man with a commanding personality and a booming voice. He was a great man of God and made a tremendous impression on me. Bro. Dowell would preach and give the invitation and the alter would fill with people getting saved, baptized, and rededications. When the invitation was over, the people would line up all across the front of the auditorium and Bro. Dowell would read their names and the reason they had come forward. Earl Smith was the song leader and was well known over America for his skill in song leading and church music. He loved music and loved the Lord, and made you want to sing, and praise God.

That was then and this is now; it is easy to look back and be contented with things that we remember from the past, some of which we didn't enjoy at all when we were going through them. The present is something different. How content are we with our present circumstances? How much does Jesus control our life, our thoughts, and our heart?

Let's consider for a few moments a word that expresses the opposite of contentment which is avarice. Now Webster says that avarice is An inordinate desire of gaining and possessing wealth; covetousness; greediness or insatiable desire of gain. In our text verse God tells us, 'Let your conversation be without covetousness......' In other words, according to God's word YOU have to power to decide to control your behavior. You have to power to stop thinking and talking covetousness. I want this, I want that, I want something else. The word conversation here means behavior in our relationships with other people whom we may influence. Now of course according to what Jesus said to us, He is very concerned about us having abundant life, not just life. He wants us to be blessed with abundance; however that does not mean that our goal should be riches or piles of things or notoriety, or fame or popularity, or any of the things that we humanly desire.

The word content implies the idea of raising a barrier; properly to ward off, that is (by implication) to avail (figuratively) be satisfactory): be content, be enough, be sufficient. With such things as ye have to be near, that is at hand, the time being, have, be here at present, even if it means lack. God's promises to provide for us and to care for us are, of course, commensurate upon our faith, or our belief, or our trust in Him to do so. This is the direction for this entire verse.

Now we should understand one thing before we go on; when God says be content, that doesn't mean that we should not progress and be aggressive in improving the situation of our life and the life of our family. On the contrary, that is what God is teaching when He says that we should have life more abundantly.

Someone said, "I wish I had his problems, her problems instead of mine." But if we could all put our problems in a common pot and then distribute them evenly, we would be saying, just give me back my problems. BE CONTENT!

Your life from the moment you were conceived until now and on, was and is ordained by God (excepting for our sin of course) and is just what it should be. BE CONTENT!

Our sins of the past though they may have been horrible, and were not God's will in any way, and God judged us for them, were then used by God to correct us and heal us of those sins and crimes. BE CONTENT!

Though you hindered God desperately with your unbelief and consequently were denied many blessings which would have ordinarily been yours, God's blessings of chastening and correcting were still extant. BE CONTENT!

The financial situation that you find yourself in today, if we are to believe Philippians 4:19, is sufficient provision from God. BE CONTENT! If we are careless with what God has given to us, we are to blame and not God.

The church that you find yourself in is the best situation for you and your family and is used of God for your development, and spiritual growth, and your availability to God for His work and the blessing of others as a child of the Heavenly Father. BE CONTENT!

The Pastor that God has given you is best suited to teach, support, help, counsel, and guide you into all truth. He is God's representative and your spiritual authority on this earth and is directly instructed by God to help you. BE CONTENT!

The mate that God has given you is forever the best companion possible for you. BE CONTENT!

The parents God has given you were designed by God to be exactly what you need to prepare you for life. BE CONTENT!

The each others in your life (aside from bad companions which will turn you away from God) are the best people in your life. BE CONTENT!

The ministry that God has given to you to perform is one that God began to prepare you for before you were born and has equipped you to be exactly what He would have you to be to minister, serve, encourage, prepare, help, pray and do what He is pleased for you to be and do. This is exactly what God has planned for your life. BE CONTENT!

The big reason for contentment mentioned in this verse is the last portion of the verse: 'for He hath said, I will never leave thee nor forsake thee.' One of the most draining and pervasive of emotions in the human experience is loneliness. God has promised in this verse to never leave us there. There will be times when we think that even God has left us but it will never be so. I WILL NEVER LEAVE THEE NOR FORSAKE THEE will always be true no matter what our feelings tell us. No matter how Satan will afflict us. Isa. 41:10 Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.

Isa. 41:17 When the poor and needy seek water and there is none, and their tongue faileth for thirst, I the Lord will hear them, I the God of Israel will not forsake them.

Psa 55:22 Cast thy burden upon the LORD, and he shall sustain thee: he shall never suffer the righteous to be moved.

Hey, if God seems far away, guess who moved? It wasn't God. Friends make pledges to be your friend no matter what, like a friend that I used to have, and then when things get hot they are gone. Our God and Father will never do that. He is a friend that stickieth closer than a brother, a very present help in trouble, our shield, our reward, our all in all, our refuge, our strong tower, our rock, our salvation, our defense, our strength, our everything. BE CONTENT!

There is nothing like a Missouri morning. I remember the times as a teenager at home; my dad would come into my room at about 5:00 AM every day and announce 'Time to get up son.' I would unwillingly put my feet on the coldest floor in Missouri and roll out of bed and get dressed to go milk the cows. I hated getting up and struggled out the front door and into the sunlit yard in front of the house. The scene that greets me makes getting up worth while: The sun is a ball of fire just peeking over the eastern horizon and gives the sky all shades of pink and red and purple. There is no air moving and all is as still and as peaceful as can be. The air is so clear that sounds travel over the miles so that you can hear a bird singing a mile away. I just stand and drink in the beautiful scene for a few moments and then walk out through the cold dewy grass toward the barn glad that I can be alive and see all of this that God has done. You have to be there to experience the wonderful tranquility of the moment and the peace that God is illustrating here.

My friend, that wedge of insecurity, that loneliness, that emptiness in your heart can only be filled by the presence of the prince of peace, the Lord Jesus Christ who is contentment Himself. When Christ is in your heart, it is morning all of the time as you trust Him. The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. Romans 6:23

Receive Him as your Saviour today just by saying this simple prayer. Lord Jesus, I know that I am a sinner and I know that Jesus died, was buried and rose from the dead to pay for my sins. I want to go to heaven when I die and I now receive Jesus Christ as my Saviour. Amen