Contentment

So earlier in the summer, I began contemplating the idea of contentment. I am not sure why, it just sort of came up. I read a lot of Paul's writings, and he seemed to have a great deal to say about how we, as Christians, should be content in our life. In Philippians 4, he even writes that he has learned the secret of being content in all things, no matter what the circumstance. This so called "secret" is he "can do all things through Christ who gives [Him] strength." A well known verse indeed, but when taken in this proper context, it has amazing significance. Paul is writing from prison, and yet his letter to the Philippians is probably the most encouraging book in the Bible. Interesting.

At the time, I was really questioning what it meant to be truly content, and why we aren't most of the time. Somewhere along the lines, I penned the following journal entry, and I think it bears repeating here.

July 6, 2006

Life is good.

I have recently been reminded of this.

It has been a busy summer thus far, complete with its high and low points. For me though, these past few days have been some of the best. Our summer team took some time off for the holiday, which has given Jackie and me a much needed break. We got to hang out with our youth at church on Sunday night, where we enjoyed a good, old-fashioned, parking lot firework show. Since everything was purchased in Kentucky, each and every firework "emitted showers of sparks," which made for quite the fantastic evening. Monday, Jack and I slept in, had pancakes at noon, and went out to a movie that night. For the Fourth, our families got together for a cookout at my parents house, and Jackie and I caught a firework show on the river.

And today, I drove.

All of this may seem remarkably simple, and I suppose it is. But somewhere on that country road this evening, with my window down and a picturesque sunset in the distance, it all hit me. And at that moment, I was happy. I was free.

I was content.

It was also at that moment that I began to contemplate the concept of sin. Weird, I know, but my mind has ways of jumping around.

When I was a child, "sin" was doing something wrong. It was telling a lie, cheating on a test, or hitting your brother in the head with a rock. As I got older though, I began to realize that sin is much more than just doing bad stuff. Sin is selfishness.

And today, possibly for the first time ever, I realized the ultimate consequence of sin in our lives... Sin robs us of contentment.

We always want more, don't we. I know I do. Even now, I want a new jacket to wear here in Poland. Forget the fact that I have a very nice, expensive Columbia jacket that was purchased not even a year ago. Something in me just isn't happy unless I'm getting new stuff all the time. And I know I'm not the only one.

There's an entire nation of Americans who think just like I do. Or perhaps I think just like they do. Our country is rooted deep in the soil of capitalism, where everything has to be bigger, better, and more convenient. And therein is our downfall. Every aspect of our society is held prisoner in this "iron-cage of rationality" -- our restaurants, our schools, and even our churches.

When Adam and Eve were in the garden, they had everything they could ever need, but they missed it. They held the privilege of a direct relationship with God, of oneness with their creator, but it wasn't enough.

God wasn't enough. They wanted more.

I believe this is the root of all sin in the world. While God is all we will ever need, we spend our entire lives searching for more. And thus, we are never truly content.