Contentment
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Updated
February 20, 2008
In 1991 writer Rick Bragg published an article in the St. Petersburg Times
(Florida) newspaper about Miami's homeless. He interviewed a group that lived
under the Interstate 395 overpass. They lived in makeshift shelters formed from
cardboard boxes and put their mattresses on the dusty ground. They were fed and
clothed by downtown shelters. They bathed in a sprinkler system intended to
water the grass. One man was interviewed who had been homeless for a long time.
What he said was very instructive. He said, "You become satisfied having
just this much." All he had was a mattress and a cardboard box!
All of us know people with two homes, two cars and two bank accounts who are not at all satisfied. Contentment must be a state of mind. The apostle Paul said that he could be content with much or with nothing (Philippians 4:11-12). It did not come naturally to him. He said that he learned it. We all know the Teacher from whom the apostle learned that lesson of contentment.
All of us know people with two homes, two cars and two bank accounts who are not at all satisfied. Contentment must be a state of mind. The apostle Paul said that he could be content with much or with nothing (Philippians 4:11-12). It did not come naturally to him. He said that he learned it. We all know the Teacher from whom the apostle learned that lesson of contentment.