Be content or else

At church last Sunday (2007-10-07), Senior Pastor Richard J. Anderson (SMCC) spoke about being content. Well, at least that’s what I got from it, no matter what tangents he might have taken.

We were studying the following passages:

• Exodus 20:17 (NIV) – “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his manservant or maidservant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.”
• Philippians 4:10-13 (NIV) – ¹⁰ I rejoice greatly in the Lord that at last you have renewed your concern for me. Indeed, you have been concerned, but you had no opportunity to show it. ¹¹ I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. ¹² I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. ¹³ I can do everything through him who gives me strength.
• 1 Timothy 6:6 (NIV) – But godliness with contentment is great gain.

On index cards, I wrote this:

In the [tough] circumstances, rejoice in the LORD.

Don’t be bored! Be content that I have much less to worry about than most of the population in the world. War, food, gangs…

Understanding how many possessions someone really has lies with the observer.

Who’s point of view is it? Do we have a lot or a little?

For me, I can’t complain about food, computers, cell phones, movies, television, radio, or money. I don’t have the right to do that. There’s people out there with barely any food to live off from. Lots of people don’t have a computer. (One example: My mom’s sister in the Philippines.) Some people still have to resort to pay phones. Some people don’t own a television or DVD. (If it’s by choice, that’s a different story.) Even though our paychecks might not be keeping up with inflation, it could be much worse.

I don’t really have anything to follow “or else,” so I’m sorry about that. 🙂