Being Content.

Being content with what we have is difficult. Especially if we feel we don’t have much to begin with. Stephen finishes his series about the 10 Commandments.

The Last of the Ten Commandments

We come now to the last of the ten commandments, and perhaps one of the hardest.  In Exodus 20:17, God says,

“You shall not covet your neighbour’s house; you shall not covet your neighbour’s wife, or his male servant, or his female servant, or his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbour’s.” 

The command has to do with desirous thoughts for what others have, and at the root of it, is a lack of contentment, which can lead to idolatry.

The Rich Young Ruler

To begin, let’s go to Luke’s gospel, and chapter 18. where we find the story of the rich young ruler.  In verse 18, the Bible says this;

“And a ruler asked him, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”  And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone.  You know the commandments: ‘Do not commit adultery, Do not murder, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Honour your father and mother.’”  And he said, “All these I have kept from my youth.”  When Jesus heard this, he said to him, “One thing you still lack. Sell all that you have and distribute to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.”  But when he heard these things, he became very sad, for he was extremely rich.”

You might have noticed that Jesus listed off the last 6 commandments in response to the young man’s question, except he only gave 5 of them, the one he left out was the last one, do not covet.  To covet means to yearn to possess, or to have.  In this case, this man desired material things so much, that he was apparently willing to give up eternal life for it.  Jesus knew what this man’s greatest sin was, it started with covetousness, and ended with idolatry.  At the beginning of His answer, Jesus actually let the man know that He was in fact God, and when Jesus said there one thing the man still lacked, to sell and follow him, the giver of eternal life, the man could not do it.  He chose earthly pleasures, over heaven’s glory. 

Contentment

I’d like to take on this commandment from the positive angle, rather than dwell on the “do not covet”, let’s look at it from the other side, “be content”.  Contentment is a challenge in our society today, mainly because, especially in western societies, just about everything seems designed now to separate a person from their money. 

The best way to do that, is through marketing, and still one of the most effective marketing strategies is to create that feeling of need or want within your prospective customer for the product or service your selling.  I have gone through sales training in the past, and believe me, the amount of psychology that has gone into these programs is mind-blowing, and we weren’t even a high-pressure sales company. 

What is My Daily Goal?

None of this means that possessions are bad and that we should all live minimalist lifestyles.  The command is more about what is sought after in our lives, what is our daily goal.  Also, the idea of attaching this commandment to desiring “stuff” really only covers it at the very basic level.  The way the commandment is presented in Exodus, how it includes our neighbours, house, spouse, workers livestock or anything that is our neighbours, shows that it includes anything that is our neighbour’s. 

It includes both the tangible and the intangible.  It is speaking of envy, and why is envy bad?  According to 1 Corinthians 13:4, envy is unloving, and since God is love per 1 John 4:8, envy is ungodly.  And that brings us back to the whole point of the commandments, to show us what ungodliness looks like, and to reveal it in ourselves so we can turn to God, in faith, for help and forgiveness.

The Pursuit of More and Better

From the passage in Luke, though, we see that while it covers envy, it goes further to include having more than God has given us.  The big problem with the pursuit of something better, is that there is always something better, the pursuit never ends, but it can consume us, it can become everything we’re living for, when Christ should be everything we’re living for. 

God has given us everything we will ever need in Jesus, when we trust in him we see His provision for us over and over again, so we shouldn’t have to chase after the things we don’t have, if we truly needed them, we would have them.  And this can be hard for us to understand, especially when there is so much we can actually obtain through things like hard work and perseverance.  It’s easy for us to believe that God intended for us to be blessed with the things we can obtain through our own means.

Self Examination

And again, this is not an indictment against having blessings, material or otherwise in our life.  I’m definitely not saying we shouldn’t work hard at what we do, nor enjoy some of the fruits of our labours.  But as with all of these commandments, they should lead us to a place of self-examination.  Is the work we put into getting something or somewhere in life going to be a testimony to Christ in our lives?  Or, will it be detrimental to our Christian walk?  Will the status or item we obtain through our labour glorify God, or will it glorify ourselves? 

Will our efforts be of a Godly benefit to us and those around us?  Or will they be as the author of Ecclesiastes puts it, chasing after the wind?  Will we still be thankful to God, if we never get whatever it is we are working for, and with that, will we be able to recognize if God does not want us to have it, and stop our pursuit?  These are questions that require a lot of discernment and a lot of honesty with ourselves.  And much of it starts with contentment.

Sufficient Grace

Paul wrote quite a bit about being content, in the New Testament.  I’ll start with an instance that didn’t even involve a desire to have more, but to have something taken away.  In 2 Corinthians 12, Paul talks about how to keep him from becoming conceited in having God reveal things to him, a messenger of Satan would harass him.  Paul says he asked God three times to remove this “thorn in the flesh” to which the Lord answered in verse 9,

“My grace is sufficient for you.”

Contentment starts with realizing what an immeasurable gift we have in Jesus Christ.  Through the grace of God, and by faith in His Son, we have the forgiveness of sins, reconciliation with God, and the assurance of everlasting life in heaven.  We have everything that rich young ruler was looking for.  The one thing the man who seemed to have everything else, wanted badly.  We have that if our faith is in Christ. 

What Money Cannot Buy

Money cannot buy anything greater, fame and popularity can never add anything to it or improve it in any way, we have been given everything that matters.  My neighbour might have a better job, fancier house, more friends, and so on, but I have the knowledge of my Lord and Saviour.  Paul would write in Philippians 3:7, 

“But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ.  Indeed I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.”

In verse 11 he would add

“Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content.  I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound.  In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need.  I can do all things through him who strengthens me.”

Hebrews 13:5 says

“Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”  Again the promise is that God is all we need, He will take care of us, He knows what is best for us.

Discontentment

Discontentment will lead to bitterness.  Imagine being ungrateful to God for all the rich blessings we have both in life and in eternity, because there is something in the world we don’t have.  And we do need to be careful, because this is again one of those commandments that we tend to focus on the immoral and amoral things and attitudes that a person can chase after.  But it is possible to be zealous to a fault, or overzealous.  We can actually become embittered towards other Christians because of their walk with God, their faithfulness, their service. 

I’ve seen people leave churches because someone got an opportunity that they didn’t to serve in a certain capacity.  I’ve seen people back away from service opportunities because the last time they did something they weren’t acknowledged, or someone else was acknowledged over them.  There have been ministries on the brink of ceasing, because they tried to reach too far beyond the work that God has set apart for them.  This doesn’t mean we should be complacent in our service, but we need to be in a right relationship with God through the Holy Spirit, so we can rightly discern where God would have us be, and what He would have us do.

It starts with having the utmost gratitude for all that he has done for us, being content with where he has placed us, and the purpose He has for us, reading His word, getting to know him more and more.  It means submitting ourselves to His will, and following where He leads us, rather than pursuing our own goals and desires, which we will sadly find out, is just chasing after the wind.

I hope this look through the ten commandments was as encouraging and edifying for you as it has been for me.  I pray that as we consider them, we can all examine ourselves more closely, that we can pray the psalmists prayer from Psalm 139:23-24,

“Search me, O God, and know my heart!  Try me and know my thoughts!  And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.”

May God richly bless you as you seek to live your life for the Lord Jesus Christ.

Do you think the 10 Commandments are still important today? We would love to hear from you. Comment below or contact us at HopeStreamRadio.