It’s a natural human trait to look for something better in life. Many people seek to be healthier, more attractive, wealthier, more popular, more influential, more talented, smarter… the list goes on. The grass is always greener somewhere else. 

Russell Herman Conwell was a motivational speaker over a century ago, long before it was a recognized career. He started out as a lawyer, then became a minister, then a motivational speaker and finally founder and president of Temple University in Philadelphia, PA. 

It was to raise money to establish Temple University that he became a motivational speaker. He needed those funds because he wanted the university to provide higher education to those who could not afford to go to other universities and become ministers. For some time early in the history of Temple there was no tuition cost for those who could not afford it.

One special story

Mr. Conwell made his mark on the speaking circuit through the sheer volume of his speaking, but he became noted for one speech in particular called “Acres of Diamonds.” There are variations of this story, but the basics concern a farmer who desired to become rich and decided to hunt for diamonds. The farmer sells his land and begins traveling in search of areas that would be diamond rich. Sadly, after decades of fruitless searching, and having exhausted all of his money, the former-farmer drowns himself in a river. 

Meanwhile, the new owner of his farm came across strange looking stones in his fields. So unusual were they that he kept one of these stones on his fireplace mantel. A friend visited one day and saw the stone on the mantel, recognizing it for what it was – a huge uncut diamond. The farmer was encouraged to collect these “stones” and sell them – which he did, becoming fabulously wealthy. 

The lesson: the original farmer never bothered to look on his own land for the wealth he was seeking.

Achieving purposeful contentment

Do we make the most of what we have first, or do we think, “If I only had this or that other thing then life would be better?” 

The apostle Paul cautions us to be content with what God has already given us:

“Not that I speak in regard to need, for I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content…” (Philippians 4:11, emphasis added). 

Contentment doesn’t only mean to make do; it can also mean to make use of what we have. What talents do we have that we can build on? It can be easy to ask God for something we think we need, but have we done the most with what He has already given us?

In the famous Parable of the Talents God reprimands the one who squandered what he had been given because that servant didn’t value even the little that he had, (Matthew 25:14-30). Likewise, the farmer in Mr. Conwell’s story didn’t think he had anything to start with and he missed the treasure right under his nose. 

“Then the King will say to those on His right hand, ‘Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world…’” (Matthew 25:34).

The diamonds were just temporary wealth, just like many of the useful, but ephemeral things we value in this life; cars, vacations, tablets, smartphones, etc. We have a greater treasure accessible through the pages of God’s word and through that calling by which God has reserved for us His Kingdom.

Are you ready to acknowledge that calling? What will you do now to make the most of what you already have?