Contentment?

One of the greatest difficulties that I think that I have struggled with in my Christian life is determining whether I am seeking first the kingdom of God or laying up treasures that moth and rust corrupt.

Sadly, our society has been entrained to work feverishly and to borrow a lot of money so that we have the appearance of great wealth. No longer are we content with a chicken in the pot, but rather we strive to have the new house in the new section of town with two nice, new vehicles in the garage next to the boat and the golf clubs.
Out country certainly has the appearance of being very rich, but the majority of the people that I know, while having a lot of possessions, are far in debt and working as much as they can to get by.

I am not opposed to money or things per se. Solomon told us that it is good for a man to enjoy the fruit of his labor. It is good for a man to rejoice in the wife of his youth, to consider his children as his heritage, to eat his bread and drink his wine with joy, and to even enjoy his sweet sleep after his day of labor. We are commanded to work - and even have been given six days to do so. We are to work with our hands so that we have something to give. In other words, we work so as to not increase our style of living, but rather our style of giving. We are reminded that we brought nothing into the world, and that we will take nothing out. Therefore, we should be content with such things that God has given. "Seek first the kingdom of God!" Are there any who are truly so doing?

The above photo is a picture of a home we are in the process of building. I enjoy my labor very much and truly enjoy seeing these projects evolve from a hole in the ground to a lovely home for some family. Sometimes I wonder as I am working on them how the people are going to pay for them. It is so expensive these days to build even a modest home. Today's house plans are typically quite large with at least a three stall garage, three bedrooms, a huge living room, and a couple of bathrooms. They have all of the modern conveniences that we can hope for. In a nearby town, there is a small log home that is on display that is about the size of a modern day living room. One hundred years ago, a family raised seven children in this 200 square feet. There was a fireplace, a loft, and a couple of shelves. I imagine even today we could a home like this for but a few thousand dollars.

In order to live in ourwell- stocked, montrous homes, we become for the most part the slaves of a bank. We forego having children and send our wives to work so that we can afford to maintain our lavish existence. The family of eight in the log home had a small farm. I imagine they worked from sundown to sun up to scratch out a meager existence. There was no debt and not many provisions, but mom was in the house making soup on the fire, dad was out behind the horses turning up the sod, and the kids were in the barn cleaning up the pen. The family was home and working together - the parents could speak of things of the Lord in the morning when they arose, over lunch, and in the evening as they walked through their fields.

I know that the house above, as nice as it will be, will one day return to the ground. Consider this old homestead below. Once there was a family who with great joy and excitement labored to build a house, a barn, and a shed. Money and effort was spent on their dream of having a farm of their own. As I have driven by this place hundreds of times, I have often wondered who they were, what they did, and what became of them. The house is now gone - all that remains is a few limestone rocks that composed its foundation. The shed and the barn are slowly groaning under the weight of age. Bit by bit the elements worry the old structures and I know that soon even they will collapse to the earth.

This is the ultimate end of all that glitters in this world. Yet sadly I see believers working unto great weariness to maintain our supply of possessions. The debts are huge and there is little that we have available to give to the poor and needy. Our time is consumed with fulfilling the obligations of our taskmasters (our debts) and sadly, we have not time to enjoy the wife of our youth and the children that God has given. We are to busy to help our neighbors. We are to busy to enjoy a breakfast or make a visit with our pastor. We have no time to be hospitable. We convince ourselves, however, that we have all and abound. Our life is but a vapor and we have such a short time to accomplish good for the sake of God's kingdom. What kind of stewards are we of the time that God has given?