Contentment and Covetousness

You know, we're in a time of year when we pass the Thanksgiving holiday. It's kind of like the world changes. I guess even the world kind of changes even leading up to the Thanksgiving holiday. And I don't watch a lot of TV, but I do watch the news and I watch some sporting events on TV. And I don't pay much attention to commercials. I kind of zone them out. But over the last few weeks, I've been hearing some commercials that have caught my attention. And because they sounded different than the typical commercial you hear as we head into this December season. And I remember one, I thought, did they really say what I thought they said on that commercial? So I kind of watched for it again. It plays over and over and over. And I'm not going to give you any brand names or anything like that. But the thing was, it was like, you know, this is a very expensive thing that someone had. And the people that were talking, they were all excited about it. They had gifted themselves this. It's like, we deserve this. So we're going to give yourself this gift and whatever. And I thought, well, that's different. And it wasn't like a pack of gum. It was an expensive gift. You deserve it. Gift yourself. And they were all happy about gifting themselves about this. And I thought, that's a different attitude that's there. There was another one that caught my attention. And it had a group of people. And they started off. They were reciting. You know, I am thankful. And this was, of course, airing before Thanksgiving.

I am thankful. And then all of a sudden, it went into this thing about, I am thankful because this year I'm getting all the gifts I need. And I thought, man, that... it just struck me as not right. It just seemed very selfish and very different. You know, very different. And I guess as we watch society around us and see what happens at this time of year, everyone...

the world just seems to be so focused on, you know, spend, spend, spend. What am I going to get, get, get? And even as I watched the news a little bit yesterday afternoon, they were talking about how much money people would spend by the end of today, yesterday.

And they thought, seven and a half billion dollars. It was not about anything, but anything, but this is how much money people will spend. And as you watch this time of year, you see all these gadgets on TV, you see all these things that we just have to have, and all this money that is spent, and it's like the whole world is... even if we don't celebrate the holidays that come up in December, you know, we can be...

we can fall into the thing as, oh, we need this. We have to have that. This would be a nice thing to have, and, you know, we need to spend, spend, spend, spend. But is that what the Bible would say? That when we have... have wealth, because we live in a very wealthy country, that we spend, spend, spend, spend, and have all these things? Do we have to have it? Do we have to have it all? You know, Jesus Christ talked about it. Let's go to Luke, Luke 12. Luke 12 and verse 15. And he precedes a parable that he's going to speak here in verse 15.

It says, Christ said to them, Luke 12, 15, Take heed and beware of covetousness, for one's life does not consist in the abundance of the things he possesses. That's exactly the opposite of the message that we hear in the world around us today. You would think that the more things you have, the happier you're going to be. And if you're going to be satisfied, you got to have this, you got to have that. And you know what? Just seeing these things parade before your eyes, got to have it, got to have it, no matter what it takes to have it. But Christ said, no, that isn't what life is consistent.

That's not what's going to satisfy you. That's not what's going to make you happy. The world has it backwards at this time of year and becomes a little bit more, I guess, direct in what the real mission of this type of season is. But you know, God is the one who orchestrates wealth, and he has made this nation very wealthy. And you look at his people, the history over the time of his people in ancient Israel.

There were times that they were very poor. There were times that they were very rich, and they were the envy of the world, just like America could be seen as the envy of the world today. And it seems like when you look and they became rich, and when they had wealth, and they had all these things, they turned their attention to things, you know, how great we are. And they forgot one of the admonitions that God made so clear to Israel and his people back in Deuteronomy 8. Let's just take the time to read through that again, because we live in a time that there's just unparalleled wealth in this country.

Maybe not for every single person, but we have a lot. We have a lot by comparison to the world and in a time where there is so much wealth we can forget, and certainly the nation seems to have forgotten, you know, some of these things. We just come out of Thanksgiving where, you know, the holiday would be thanking God for the blessings he's given us and go right into a time of the year where we're inundated with, we want this, and we want this, and everything.

Let's pick it up in Deuteronomy 8, verse 10. Now God says, when you have eaten and are full, then you shall bless the Lord your God for the good land which he has given you. Beware that you don't forget the Lord your God by not keeping his commandments, his judgments, and his statutes which I command you today. Lest, when you've eaten and are full, and have built beautiful houses and dwell in them, and when your herds and your flocks multiply, and your silver and your gold are multiplied, and all that you have is multiplied, when your heart is lifted up, and you forget the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt from the house of bondage.

And then he goes describing what they do. Let's then drop down to verse 17. And you say in your heart, my power and the might of my hand have gained me this wealth. Remember, remember the eternal your God. It is he who gives you power to get wealth, that he may establish his covenant which he swore to your fathers, and it is as it is this day.

And then he says, if you forget God, if you kind of think we've done all this ourselves, why aren't we wonderful people? Aren't we smart people? Look what we've built.

If you forget God, he says in verse 19, I testify against you this day that you shall surely perish.

And Israel, ancient Israel, that proved the case with ancient Israel. When they became full of themselves and thought they did it all, and forgot God because they were so rich and had all these things that they could pay attention to. God, when he was forgotten, saw what was going on, and he allowed Israel to go into captivity. You have to remember it's God who gives us these things.

And that's national wealth, but certainly each of us are at a different status, probably. Some may have very, very much. Some may have very, very little. We still live in a land that's richly blessed. Let's go back to Proverbs 13, because in Proverbs 13, not Proverbs 13, Proverbs 30, there's a verse there that speaks to this condition of wealth or poverty. And in either situation we find ourselves, there could be temptations associated with it. You know, we've learned, you know, and I've said several times, sometimes the trial, a more difficult trial, is when we have plenty. And we don't have to think about things. And, you know, we can spend what we need to or whatever and find ourselves feeling self-sufficient. And there's a danger in that. In Proverbs 30, this man named Agar, A-G-U-R, no one knows who he is, some commentary say it's maybe just another name for Solomon. But in Proverbs 30, he says this, let's pick it up in Proverbs 30 verse 5. He says, every word of God is pure. He is a shield to those who put their trust in him. Don't add to his words lest he rebuke you and you be found a liar. So as he begins this, he says words we should all remember. And then in verse 7 he says this, two things I request of you, deprive me not before I die. Remove falsehood and lies far from me. Well, God hates lies. God hates that. He wants us to speak truth. Remove falsehood and lies far from me and give me neither poverty nor riches. Feed me with the food allotted to me. Don't let me be rich, but don't let me be poor.

Just feed me with the things that are allotted to me. Now most people would say I'd rather be rich, right? I'd rather have that trial. I'd rather I'd rather remember to obey God and do that. But Agar, Solomon, if that's him writing, he says, don't make me rich, don't make me poor. Now Solomon was very, very rich, and we know what happened to Solomon. He forgot God. He forgot God, and he went with the way of the world, you know, and did really everything the opposite of what God had commissioned him to do and what he intended to do when he first became king of Israel there. He says, don't give me poverty and don't give me wealth. When he said those things, he knew that with each of those, as we read verse 9, they would be associated with trials. If you have too much or if you have too little, verse 9, he says, lest I be full and deny you and say, who's God? Or forget him, as it said in Deuteronomy 8. If I'm full and have plenty, who is God? Or lest I be poor and steal and profane the name of my God. So he knew that great wealth could be a distraction from obeying God. Great wealth could be a trial. Great wealth would be a danger just as having, you know, not enough. Back in Matthew 19, Christ said, it's easier, remember the verse, he said, it's easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.

Well, that's a pretty tall order, isn't it? When Christ said these words, he doesn't say them, it's like, it's a hard thing to do. It's a hard life. If you have plenty, there is always the danger you're going to forget God and think it's really all about you. Now, it doesn't say it's impossible for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God. Certainly there were several men in the Bible who had plenty. Abraham was very wealthy. David had plenty. Joseph, as he came through his trials, he was well known in Egypt, and he had plenty. There's nothing wrong with wealth, per se. It's our attitude toward it and what we allow it to do to ourselves. So it's not impossible for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God, but they need to be very aware of what life is like and not think it's all about them. Leading into verse 7 there, he says, you know, he says, put your trust in God.

And it's very easy to lose your trust in God and put our trust in selves and our bank accounts and our stock portfolios or whatever it is if we have money and we're blessed with wealth and think, I'm kind of shielded from anything that happens. There's a kind of a dangerous thing, dangerous thing there. Let's go back to Luke 12 because in Luke 12, Jesus Christ, with the verse that we just read, is introducing a parable about someone who has a lot of money. And we find in Luke that, you know, there are several parables that have to deal with money, some with poverty, some with the attitude toward money. We'll look at a couple of them today. But in Luke 12, you know, Christ introduced the parable when he said, beware of covetousness. Let me just define covetousness here as we go into it. Covetousness.

I had a nice definition written down here. Let me find it.

I'll come back to it.

Maybe I thought it and didn't write it.

Nope, there it is. Okay, covetousness. This is from the Bible dictionary and actually the English dictionary. It's a deep desire to possess that which belongs to another, an inordinate desire or discontent for what one doesn't have. Coveting generally, it goes on to say, is caused by greed and self-centeredness without regard for God. So when Christ says, beware of covetousness, in this time of the year covetousness can be something that we see all around us. It's kind of a self-centered type thing. It's a deep desire of something we see, something we want, you know, that we just have to have and we're willing to do whatever it is for it. As Christ says this in verse 16, it says, He spoke a parable to them and said, The ground of a certain rich man yielded plentifully. So here's a wealthy guy. He had a farm that was producing well, and he thought within himself, saying, What shall I do, since I have no room to store my crops? I've got so much I don't even know where to put them all. So he said, I'll do this. I'll pull down my barns and I'll build greater ones. And there I will sell all my crops and my goods. And I will say to my soul, soul, you have many goods laid up for many years. Take your ease. Eat, drink, and be merry.

So you see the attitude. I've got plenty. I don't have to do anything right now. I can just kind of sit back. I can do whatever I want. I don't have to worry about harvests next year. I don't have to worry about where my next meal is coming from. I'm taken care of for life. Life is good.

Nowhere in, nowhere in, those things that that man is thinking, is he thankful to God? Nowhere in there is he thinking, you know, I've got all this wealth. When God blesses me, he expects me to be a blessing to others. Maybe I can use some of it to be of benefit to others, right? Just like when he told Abraham, you'll be blessed, then you'll be a blessing. You'll be a blessing to the world physically and spiritually as we learn. There's none of that thought at all. Just it's about me. I'm going to be a bigger thing. I'm going to be I'm going to build bigger barns. I'm going to keep this for myself. You know what? I am in good shape. I don't need anyone else is the attitude that's here. I don't even need God. Now, many of us, you know, we might we might think, well, you know what? I would probably I might just do the same thing as this guy without thinking, you know, it's like God's given me all these things. How do I what do I do? Do I invest it here? Do I invest it there? Where do I put it? We might just not even think about it and, you know, forget. Thank God. Thank God for what he's done. Learn to trust in him. Remember that wealth could be as big of a trial as poverty or any other trial that comes our way. It's our attitude toward it. Do we still look to God? Do we still trust him? Are we still building that faith in him as we go through life? Or do we begin to trust in ourselves? And in this society, it's pretty easy, pretty easy to begin to trust in ourselves. America certainly trusts in itself. God is nowhere in the picture of the society anymore. It's our economy, our military, our healthcare system. It's all about what we can do. We don't need God. We built all these things ourselves. And God is saying, don't you, don't you become like them, don't you become like the world around you, you trust in me. So he's got this attitude, you know, I don't need to work anymore. I'm just going to take it easy and be happy. Verse 20, God said to him, fool. And whenever we see the word fool, you know, we might have a different connotation. God is saying, you're not paying attention. You're not getting the Word of God. You are apart from what my purpose is. God said to him, fool, this night your soul will be required of you. Then whose will those things be which you have provided?

Wake up is what he is saying. You're going to, that all that's going to disappear. You're putting your trust in the wrong place. I'm the only one who you can put your trust on forever. This wealth can disappear overnight, right? And no matter what we have or don't have, everything we have in this society can disappear literally overnight. The people of 1929 and the depression, they learned, they learned whatever they had amassed, it was gone. Now what did so many of them do that we hear about? They jumped out of buildings, they gave up. It's like, wow, everything I trusted in is gone. I can't go on anymore. What am I going to do? And so we find ourselves sitting in the same situation.

You know, we look at the economy and many economists will look at this stock market that we have and, you know, coming from a financial background, it's like it makes no sense that it's as high as it is.

It isn't based on real performance. It's there more as an opinion poll than it is anything anymore, and it could literally crash overnight. Something we came close to back in 2007 and 2008, God says, you know what? You trusted in the wrong thing. It's all going to disappear, he says to this man.

So is he, verse 21, who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.

Find to have wealth. Find to use it. Find to appreciate it. Don't forget God.

Don't forget God is what Agar, probably Solomon, who wrote under that name, you know, said back in Proverbs 30, don't forget God. So wealth, wealth can be something we want to pay attention to and not take our ease as that man did, not take it easy in this day and age, but probably grow even closer to God. You know, Agar, he also said, he said, don't give me wealth.

Don't let me be rich. Don't give me poverty. He didn't want either one of them, because being poor can certainly have its trials as well. You know, in Proverbs 30, and when we read those verses, he said, you know, if I'm rich, I might forget God, but if I'm poor, I might, I might steal. I might find myself thinking I've got to do this, and so I have to disobey God. I have to steal whatever I need, because I got to eat. I got to have these things.

So, so there's a temptation there as well. It goes back to trust in God, trust in God. There's a number of reasons that people are, you know, can find themselves in poverty. It can be just something that God sends on us, right? If you look at people in the Bible again, Joseph, Joseph came from a wealthy family. Jacob, you know, Jacob had a lot of wealth, and he grew up as a wealthy young man, but he was sold into slavery, and literally overnight, he became the poorest of the poor.

He was totally dependent. He was a slave, and then it even got worse. He was in prison. He had nothing, and through it all, we saw that Jacob, not Jacob Joseph, he handled it well during that time of being in poverty. He looked to God. He didn't go crazy. He didn't throw everything away and say, I'm going to do whatever I need to do.

Forget, forget God, forget what I've been brought on. He stuck with God. He was even closer to God during that time, and when you look at his life and see where he was before as a young man, and then what he did when he was all by himself in this society, he had no idea, you know, what they were like. He followed God even more closely, and through all that trial, he came out of it, and God looked at him and thought, what a good attitude you have.

You handled it exactly right. There's David, King David. You know, he was anointed king of Israel years before he actually was coronated with that, and he was finding himself on the run. Saul wanted to kill him, and so he found himself impoverished for a while. He was running for his life most of the time. He didn't even have food. Sometimes you would read about his army, his little band, the men that were with him. They didn't eat for seven days.

They could have gone through, and they could have said, you know, we're going to take this from this person or this for this person and whatever, and you know, we have the right to eat.

Didn't do that. He handled it well. He remembered God through that whole trial, and he looked to God, and God provided what they needed as they needed it. And then he came out, and he became wealthy in Israel along with him. So we can become impoverished as God looks to see what's in our heart.

You know, what do we do? Sometimes God sends that upon people. He may well send it on a lot of us as the time goes on before, you know, Christ returns. What will we do? Will we give it all up?

Will we look to him even more earnestly? Sometimes poverty can come by our own hands, right? Maybe we don't work as hard as we should. Maybe we're not as diligent in our efforts as we should, and so we don't move ahead in our professions the way we can because, or could, because we haven't learned to work hard, give our best, you know, to our employers, even be a blessing to them by giving more, being an employee that they are very enamored with and very fond of and things that we can learn that way.

So there are a number of reasons that we could become impoverished.

Sometimes we just waste. Sometimes we just waste our wealth, and it disappears from us.

And so over in Luke 15, a few chapters over, we find another parable that Jesus Christ gives that has to do with a young man, with a young man who had wealth, but then he became, then he became quite impoverished. Luke 15. Luke 15. Let's pick it up in verse 11.

It's the story of the prodigal son. Prodigal means wasteful. Verse 11. He said, A certain man had two sons, and the younger of them said to his father, Father, give me the portion of goods that falls to me. You know what? Half of what you have, Dad, belongs to me. I want it now. I want it now. He was tired of working for Dad, and just, you know, give me what I, give me what my inheritance is now. And for some reason, the father did it, so he divided to them his livelihood. Not sure that's the wisest thing to do, that you would just give your child everything all at once like that, child everything all at once like that. But he did it. He did it. Not many days after, the younger son gathered altogether, journeyed to a far country, and there wasted his possessions with prodigal, or wasteful as it says in your margin there, living. So he's got this wad of money in his hands. I am a rich man. This is what I've been waiting for. I'm away from Dad. I'm away from these responsibilities that I have. I don't like working in whatever the profession was at home, anymore. I don't like Dad telling me what to do. I've got my money, and now I'm going to live my life and enjoy it. So he goes far away, takes this wad of money, and he spends it all. Wasted his possessions, his inheritance. That was what he was going to get. That was it. He wasted them all.

Well, the young man had some things to learn. You know, as we read about these two sons, we had one of them who was, I guess we would say, maybe wise, because he stayed there with them, and he wasn't prone to just spending everything that he was given. But this son, the younger one, gave it to me, and it's gone. He was just going to enjoy it and not pay any attention to what the future might hold. And so he has to learn some valuable financial principles here, the hard way in his life. Keep your finger there in Luke 15. Let's go back to Proverbs 21 for a minute.

Proverbs, of course, has a lot of things to say about the things that we do with our lives and how we handle our money. God looks to see how it is that we handle wealth or how we handle poverty. Proverbs 21, verse 5, says, The plans of the diligent lead surely to plenty. The plans of the diligent.

Thinking about what life is going to be about. Looking ahead on it. You know, we could talk about budgets. This is what I need. This is how I'm going to handle this. I just, you know, the young man here in Luke 15, he just, I got it. I'm spending it. The plans of the diligent lead surely to plenty. But those of everyone who is hasty surely to poverty. Well, as you read about the prodigal son, he was one who was hasty. I'll spend it on whatever I want. I'll spend it on whatever I want. We all know people who have done that, right? We know people who just spend, spend, spend, spend, and it's all gone. And others who are a little more diligent and keep it and plan for something different. Let's plan for the future. Verse 20 of the same chapter. Kind of an interesting way it's worded here in verse 20. It says, There is desirable treasure and oil in the dwelling of the wise. Okay, the wise, they have, they have treasure, they have oil, they've got these things, but a foolish man squanders it. So on one case, the there's, there's treasure that the wise kind of keep their eyes on, but the fool, but the foolish man squanders it. Let me read to you from the new living translation of what it says in Proverbs 21 verse 20. It says, The wise have wealth and luxury, but fools spend whatever they get. The fools spend whatever they get. I mean, you go back and look at the original Greek. I mean, it does have the words about treasure, but when you boil it down to what that verse is saying, that's basically what it is. Some, some look to the future and don't use it all at one time. Others spend whatever they get. One may lead to a good future. The other one may lead to some disaster and poverty that they bring upon themselves.

Back in Proverbs 10, Proverbs 10, we find another principle that here the young man, the prodigal son, had to learn. Maybe his dad taught him these things. Maybe he didn't. But he had to learn them the hard way. Proverbs 10 verse 4, He who has a slack hand becomes poor. We talked about that. You know, I just take it easy, do the minimum possible and whatever. He who has a slack hand becomes poor, but the hand of the diligent makes rich. He who gathers in summer is a wise son.

He's paying attention to what's going to happen in the fall and winter when there are no crops and everything. Who gathers in summer is a wise son. He who sleeps and harvests is a son who causes shame. You can boil it down to an old proverb that they say, you know what, you got to keep your eye out and save for a rainy day, right? There's a time coming where you may not have enough. Don't spend it all. Keep some signs the size. When the crop is plentiful, don't spend it all. Set some aside so when you have problems come up, you have some funds available. God doesn't give us everything to just spend everything, but He gives us, you know, as a nation, He gives us as individuals. He even gives us as a church things to do, and certainly we could remember Joseph. They had bumper crops, remember, for seven years in Egypt. Bumper crops for seven years, they didn't just say, throw it all away, burn it all up. God taught them the lesson you say because they're seven years of famine. There's seven years of famine coming, and you want to have something to see you through those times. So the prodigal son, as he got his hands on this wad of money, he wasn't thinking about any of those things. He just thought, I can spend it. I can just do it all, and I can have a good time. And he learned life isn't that way. You know, if you have a wad of money, if you have an inheritance like he had, if he was wise, he would have thought there could be a time coming.

I've got the rest of my life. I don't know what the rest of my life is going to be like. I don't know what production I'll have. I don't know what God will give me. I need to hold some aside. But that isn't what he did. Let's go back to Luke 15. Luke 15 and go on with the story here.

We are through verse 13. He left, he went far away, spent all of his money, wasted it on things and possessions, thinking that would make him happy. Didn't turn out that way. Verse 14, when he had spent all, when it was all gone, there arose a severe famine in that land, and he began to be in want. Now, if that time was like, whoops, well, if I had some of that money that I just kind of wasted, you know, maybe I didn't really need this trinket or that trinket or that possession or whatever. If I had just some of that money now, I could see myself through some of these rough times. When he spent all, there arose a severe famine in that land, and he began to be in want. And he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country, and he sent him into the fields to feed swine. Now, whatever he was doing for Dad, right back before he left, I venture to say it probably wasn't that job. Couldn't wait to get away from Dad, couldn't get away, wait to get away from that. But here he is now in a position where he's lost everything or really squandered everything, and he's feeding almost a really a tough thing to even picture, right? Feeding swine. After he'd been on a farm, and I grew up, my grandparents had swine. Just filthy creatures, but this is what this man, this man, this is what his job, this job, he had nowhere else to go. He had to do something, and this is what he was relegated to. I wonder if he thought during that time, kind of wish I'd stayed at home, whatever Dad was having me do, whatever I was doing there that I didn't think was fine, it was better than this.

So he joined himself to a citizen of that country. He had this job now feeding swine, and verse 16, he would gladly have filled his stomach with the pods that the swine ate. Can you imagine? That's how destitute and how impoverished he was. I would even eat what these pigs are eating. I am so hungry. I have literally nothing. That's how far down he had come from, very high in his mind, to the lowest of the low, right? I would eat what these pigs are eating if I had to. And notice it says in verse 16, and no one gave him anything. Isn't that interesting? No one gave him anything.

They might look at that and say, well, come on, that's a fault of the people. They saw someone who had a problem here. You know, they should have given him something. Someone should have helped him out, right, if they were right people? And that's a noble thing to say. But at the same time, at the same time, sometimes in life, when we make mistakes and when we see situations like this, the best help is to give no help at all, to let that person learn the lesson that's going to change their life. Sometimes we can give too much. As parents, we make that mistake sometimes.

There's times we kind of watch what's going on, and perhaps, just perhaps, the people who knew this young man that was there saw what he had done, how he just flashed all his money and spent it all, thought, you know what, this young man needs to learn a lesson. Let him suffer a little, and let him learn the lessons of life so that going forward, he might not make this mistake again. If we just help him through it and give him everything he needs, he's not going. He's going to make the same mistake again. Sometimes we see that with our children and his parents, we can come to the realization, boy, you know, we can give too much. Nothing wrong with giving. We don't want to see anyone hurt, starving, or anything like that. But we all need to learn lessons, and this young man, you know, maybe God is the one who shut up the help that he might have gotten, so he could learn something about himself, and we would have this lesson for us here as well.

So here he is, destitute situation. Verse 17, when he came to himself, woke up one day, look at who I am, look at what I'm doing, how did life ever come to this? And sometimes it just takes a little while for things to sink in, but when he came to himself, he said, how many of my father's hired servants have bread enough to and to spare, and I perish with hunger? Man, I'd be better off if I was a servant in my parents in my father's house than what I'm doing here. It wasn't so bad after all. What I had, I totally discounted. I didn't pay any attention to. I took it for granted. I thought I could do so much better, but what I've done is just simply, simply mess my life up and mess it up, but good. And when he came to himself, he had to be somewhat embarrassed about what he had done, as all of us would be when we come to realize things we've done and we, you know, kind of knock ourselves against the head and think, what was I thinking? What was I thinking? How could I have let that happen to me in my life? Well, that's the moment that this young man he had here. He came to himself and he said, you know, why am I not at home? Why am I sitting here like this in misery? I've blown it. But he also knew it's kind of a humbling experience to admit, right? Admit that you've really messed your life up. Admit that you've really made a mistake and that you need to come back and eat whatever it was, eat crow or whatever it is. So he says in verse 18, you know when I'm going to rise, go to my father and I'll say to him, father, I've sinned against heaven and before you. Both, right? I sinned against God. I didn't pay attention to the things that you taught me. I just kind of did things my own way. Maybe as he sat there and he was hungry, feeding those swines, he thought, you know, dad told me about this. He said, you know, maybe even told him as he left, don't spend it all in one place. Don't get rid of it all at one time. Pay attention to what it is. This is your livelihood. This is what you have.

Maybe you started thinking about some of those things and thought, you know what? Yes, I sinned against God. I remember these verses. I remember these things that I was taught. I didn't pay attention to it. And dad, I sinned against you too. You warned me. You taught me, but I didn't. I had to do it my own way and it didn't turn out well. So in verse 19, he says, I'm no longer worthy to be called your son. Just make me like one of your hired servants. I'm not even being asked to be restored to a sonship. Just let me work for you. I'd rather be here in your house doing whatever it takes. And however, whatever wage you want to pay me, because I'm comfortable here and this is where I belong. And so the father, of course, is just very happy that the son learned his lesson. And so he welcomes him back with open arms. They throw a feast for him, cause his little problem for the other son who handled his wife a little better. Some things he had to learn as well, but he's not the focus of what we're talking about here today. Now we know the spiritual applications of that and how we can wander from God as well and the riches that he's given us and the blessings of his knowledge. And we can go away and we can think we can do things on our own. We can forget God, but when we remember God, we come back to him. We go back to him. We repent. We apologize. We have that remorse and that commitment that we won't let that happen again.

And we might have to eat, you know, be very humble with each other as well when those things happen.

But we do it because it's the right thing to do like this young man did. What we see, you know, there's lessons we learn in wealth. There's lessons we learn in poverty as Solomon or Ager said. But if we, you know, remember back in Proverbs 30, you know, he says, don't give me wealth. Don't let me be rich. Don't let me be rich. I might forget you.

Don't let me be impoverished. I might sin. I might steal. I might do these things. I might sin against you. In either case, I may be forgetting you. His conclusion was, just let me be fed with the food allotted to me. Just give me what I need. I don't want to desire the best things in life. I don't have to have every possession that I see. I don't need, I don't want to be poor. I just want you to give me what I need, provide my necessities, and I'll be happy with what you do then. It's kind of what he was saying then.

It's the same thing that we read back in Hebrews 13.

Hebrews 13.

We don't want to be covetous people and look at the things and everything. We say, I've got to have that, and you know, got to have that, and then we have it, and it sits in a closet, and whatever. Chapter 13 of Hebrews says, let your conduct be without covetousness.

Don't be the type of people that everything you see you have to have. That's not what your life is supposed to be about. Man's life doesn't consist of the things, of the things that he possesses. That's not going to bring him happiness. Let your conduct be without covetousness.

Be content with such things as you have. Don't be covetous. Be content. Be content.

And if you look at that word, content, from the Greek word, that's exactly what it means.

Just be whatever God gives you. Just be pleased with that. Don't forget him.

Realize that God is in control. Do the things and remember him, and be happy. Don't be striving for something that you jeopardize or go against God in. Not saying you shouldn't work hard. Not saying that you shouldn't be looking for promotions if you're doing your job well. God will bless as we do those things in the right order and with him in mind. But be content.

Be content. If God's given you a lot, be content with it. Don't forget who gave it to you. Don't forget to use it for the right purposes. If you're getting by with little, be content with it. There's something God is teaching, just like that prodigal son had to be taught.

Be content and learn the lessons and know that God is in control of your life and that he's the one who is ordering what goes on. You know, contentment has a definition as well. God places a high importance on contentment, which you read through the Bible. Certainly in this verse in Hebrews 13.5, he says, he doesn't make it a suggestion. It's really a command. Be content. Be content with what you have. A person who's content is not inclined to complain or desire something else. They're satisfied. A person who is content is submissive to circumstances, accepting of those circumstances.

And a person whose content, it says, is free from worry, marked by peace of mind.

Isn't that a beautiful state to be in? Free from worry? Happy to be where you are? Peace of mind?

Not complaining? Just allowing God to rule, to direct your life? That's what he says in Hebrews 13. When we look at the men in the Bible, you know there's one very good example of being content.

Who's one very good example? Paul. Very good. Paul said as much in Philippians 4. Philippians 4.

You look at Paul's life. We remember where he came from. We look what he did after his conversion.

He was willing to sacrifice everything—his comfort, his means, his body—for God. And he was thankful through it all and said the things that we talked about last week. Be thankful.

Be thankful. Be actively thankful to God no matter what you find yourself in. And in everything, be thankful to him. But here in Philippians 4 and verse 9, he says, The things which you learn—speaking to the church at Philippi there—the things which you have learned and received and heard and saw in me, these do. And the God of peace will be with you. But I rejoiced in the Lord greatly that now at last your care for me has flourished again, though you surely did care, but you lacked the opportunity. Paul was just not wanting to impose himself on anyone.

You know, he had a right to be supported by the church, but when the people had an issue with it, he went out and worked, worked. In whatever job he had to support himself, he didn't want to be a burden to anyone or to be offensive to anyone. He just did whatever it is. And but he had to learn, you know what, people had the opportunity to give as well. And verse 11, he says, Not that I speak in regard to need, for I've learned in whatever state I am, whether that was in prison or whether that he was on a ship that was being shipwrecked, whether he was standing before magistrates, whether he was very comfortable in a job that he had for portions of his time, whatever state I am in. And they were varied with Paul. You can go back to 2 Corinthians and see all the things that he endured his life. And he could say, whatever state I am, I am content. I'm okay with it.

He still worked very hard. He didn't give up. He didn't say, man, all these efforts I put into it didn't amount to anything. He kept working hard, the same thing that you and I must do in our lives. We never stop. We never stop. But we never stop obeying God. We never stop letting him improve us. He never stopped in letting him help us to become who he wants us to become. We put our diligence and our effort into it. I've learned in whatever state I am to be content. I know how to be a-based. And I know how to abound. I've been poor and I've been rich. Everywhere and in all things I have learned both to be full and to be hungry. Both to abound and to suffer need.

I've experienced it all. I understand what you're going through. But I kept my focus on God. I didn't blame him. I didn't complain. I just did what was brought to me. And I followed what God said, trusting in him that all things would work together for good to those who love him. May not be the best situation today, but it will be better down the road.

Maybe a high, high, high on the totem pole today, but you know what? Very aware that if I forget God, or that just because God sees what's in my heart, I could be very low. Literally overnight.

Where will the trust be? What will we learn? Because we all need to learn that God is the one. God is the one that we trust and not in the things that we have. So we learn to be content. And that's through all the situations in life, right? Money has a lot to do with it because that seems to be the thing that God looks to see how we do. And money, of course, we know is an important thing that Christ could even say, you can't serve God in mammon. You can't serve them both. You either trust one or you trust in the other, but you can't serve both. You have to kind of choose God. But let's go back to 1 Timothy because Paul, as he's writing to Timothy, talks about contentment in some verses about money as well. 1 Timothy 6. 1 Timothy 6. Let's begin in verse 1. Sometimes it's helpful to just read ahead of time the verses that you're going to. In chapter 6, verse 1, he's talking about the employer-employee relationship. Let as many bondservants as are under the yoke count their own masters worthy of all honor.

That goes back to what we were talking about last week. Be thankful for them. Be thankful for them. They may not know the truth. You may think they're a really hard boss.

Treat them with honor. Count their own masters worthy of all honor so that the name of God and his doctrine may not be blasphemed. And those who have believing masters, let them not despise them because they are brethren, but rather serve them because those who are benefited are believers and beloved. Sometimes we can work for someone in the church and think, oh, I can take it easy. It's their job to tolerate me. It's their job to do this. And he's saying, no, don't do that. Work hard for them just like you would anyone else, no matter who it is.

Paul says that Timothy, teach and exhort these things. If anyone teaches otherwise and doesn't consent to wholesome words, even the words of our Lord Jesus Christ and to the doctrine which accords with godliness, he's proud, knowing nothing, but is obsessed with disputes and arguments over words from which come envy, strife, reviling, evil suspicions. He's saying, be dedicated to godliness. We are not dedicated to that. Oftentimes we become proud, and when we become proud, all these things begin to happen. We have arguments, disputes, people not agreeing with one another. Verse 5, useless wranglings of men of corrupt minds and destitute of the truth, who suppose that godliness is a means of gain. And sometimes that's what people think.

Now, sometimes I get the question, what is godliness? You probably have thought about that. What is godliness? It comes from the Greek word eusebia, and it's really the best definition, but let me give you what the King James dictionary says is a definition of godliness as it's used when you see the word. It's got two points here. It says, number one, it's a religious life, a careful observance of the laws of God and performance of religious duties, proceeding from love and reverence for the divine character and commands. It is Christian obedience and dedication to God. It's becoming like Jesus Christ, right? Godliness. That's what we're here to become like Jesus Christ as God leads us with his Holy Spirit, and he irons out the wrinkles and spots as we let him and as we make the decisions to stop what we're doing and consciously change our behavior as God gives us the strength and the recognition of those things, we become more and more like Jesus Christ. It's godliness. But he says here in verse 5 that some suppose that godliness is a means of gain. Oh, if I become more godly, I should have this. Ah, I should be rich, or I should have this position, or whatever it is. Godliness is not a means of gain. Godliness is what we do to please God. It's who we are. And if in our minds for any reason we think, oh, if I'm godly and not rich, then God is shortchanging me, we got some thinking to do. If we're thinking we're godly, and I should be doing this, or I should have this recognition, or whatever, we got some thinking to do. We become godly because it's a thing we do regardless of what God. This has nothing to do with the rewards that he gives us. He'll be faithful to provide, but we're godly because that's what we've been called to, and that's what we become as we completely yield to him.

He says in verse 5, of people that suppose that godliness is a means of gain, from such withdraw yourself. Don't get tainted with that mindset. Leave it behind.

And then in verse 6, a verse that you probably all thought of, now godliness, becoming like God for the right reason, following him for the right reasons with the right attitude, led by his spirit, and a humble mind, recognizing him, remembering him, yielding ourselves to him, not thinking highly of ourselves, not patting ourselves on the back. Now godliness with contentment is great gain. You want to be wealthy? You want to be rich? Here's the way to do it. Live a godly life and be content. Be content. That's where you'll find the peace of mind. That's where you'll find the wealth. That's where you'll find the satisfaction in life. You're not going to find it in all the possessions on earth that you might be able to buy and put in your storehouse, but you'll find the satisfaction living a godly life and striving for a godly life and being content with what God has done to us. Not taking it easy, not giving it up, still working hard no matter what toward the goals that he has set for us. Verse 8, having food and clothing with these we shall be content.

Be thankful to God that you've got the necessities of life.

Now, in this land, he gives us so much more than the necessities of life, but he says that they've got that. Be content with it. But those who desire to be rich, those who want everything now, those who desire to be rich fall into temptation and a snare and into many foolish and harmful lusts which drown men in destruction and perdition. The pursuit of money, looking at the things, allowing the covetousness that we'll see and that we see all around us all the time, right? But maybe even more so in the next month, the covetousness that's there that is engendered by the things we watch on TV, the things that maybe with the people that we work with, you know, we can't become prey to that. Not wrong to want things. It's not wrong to have things. Not wrong to have wealth, but gotta have the right attitude toward it, the right outlook on it. For the love of money, the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. A root, not the only root, right? The love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness and pierced themselves through with many sorrows. We don't want to be one of those people. We want to have the right outlook on life. We want to let God lead us and direct us in the way that He wants us to be. And so, and so, as we look at the world around us and as we see society, keep telling us, spend, spend, spend. You'll be happier if you have this. You'll be happier if you own this. Your life will be fuller if you have this. Sacrifice what it is or whatever it is we need to do. You know, in the pursuit of happiness, remember, it's not the possessions that make us happy. It's God that makes us happy. Godliness and contentment. Covetousness. Covetousness leads to something none of us want to be. Covetousness can take us right away from the promises that can't be matched by anything this world has to offer. There's no commercial. There's no company. There's nothing that can provide you what God has promised. But if we fall prey to that, if we fall prey to that, you know, we could find ourselves, as it says in Timothy here, pierced with many sorrows. Let's go back to Isaiah, Isaiah 55. As we think about contentment, as we think about where our lives are, and what we really want and what all people want, they just want to feel satisfied. You know, sometimes, and maybe after a Thanksgiving meal, you know, it's good if we just feel satisfied, right? If we feel stuffed and miserable, it's like, man, I just, I had too much.

And if you didn't have enough, it's like, I want more and whatever, but I don't think any of us were in that position, right? It's kind of nice to just step away from a meal and you feel satisfied, you know? You're happy. You're just content and not miserable. Verse chapter 55, verse 1, you know, Christ, you know, speaking through Isaiah here, talks about where contentment comes from.

55, verse 1, Ho, everyone who thirsts come to the waters, and you who have no money, come, buy and eat. Yes, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.

Just give yourself to me, yield to me, follow me, trust me. I'm not one who's going to charge you, dollars and cents. I do want you to give me your life and yield to me. Why do you spend money for what is not bread? Why do you spend your wages for what does not satisfy? Listen carefully to me.

Eat what is good. Let your soul delight itself in abundance. Incline your ear and come to me. Here, and you shall live, and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, the sure mercies of David. Verse 6, Seek the Eternal while he may be found. Call upon him while he is near. Let the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts.

Let him return to the eternal, and he will have mercy on him, and to our God for he will abundantly pardon. Let's go down to chapter 56. I think God gives a good definition of godliness.

We see the contentment with God wants us to have. Where contentment comes from in true satisfaction comes from doing his will and coming to him and trusting him for him, what he does in his life and what he provides. Chapter 56, verse 1, thus says the eternal, Keep justice. Do righteousness, for my salvation is about to come and my righteousness to be revealed.

Blessed is the man who does this and the son of man who lays hold on it, who keeps from defiling the Sabbath and keeps his hand from doing any evil.

You can see where God puts his emphasis in the things that we do, the things that help us to become what he wants us to become. Don't let the son of the foreigner who has joined himself to the Lord speak, saying, The Lord has utterly separated me from his people. Don't say that.

God isn't the one who separates. We separate ourselves from him. Don't let the eunuch say, Here I am a dry tree. For thus says the eternal, To the eunuchs who keep my Sabbath, and choose what pleases me and hold fast my covenant, even to them I will give in my house, and within my walls a place and a name, better than that of sons and daughters. I will give them an everlasting name that shall not be cut off.

Can't buy that with dollars and cents. Can't buy that with all your possessions.

It's something that comes from God. Also, the sons of the foreigner who join themselves to the eternal to serve him, and to love the name of the Lord to be his servants, everyone who keeps from defiling the Sabbath, and holds fast my covenant, even them I will bring to my holy mountain, and make them joyful in my house of prayer. Their burnt offerings and their sacrifices will be accepted on my altar, for my house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations.

If we're looking for satisfaction, if we're looking to be content, look to God.

Don't look to the world. Don't fall prey to it. Keep his principles in mind by of him, with our lives, the things that will bring true commitment and satisfaction.