PSALM 23 – A PSALM OF DAVID. The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the LORD forever.”
THEME OF THE DAY: THE ONLY CURE FOR A DISCONTENTED LIFE. Jerry Bridges once said, “Discontent is one of the most satanic of all sins, and to indulge in it is to rebel against God as Satan did.” That is a rather hard-hitting quote, don’t you think? The reason why is because it goes straight to the heart, in some measure, of every Christian. Let’s test my last statement. Have any of you struggled with discontent in a relationship, even a marriage? What about discontent on your job, longing for something else? How about where you live? You dream of living in a different part of the country or world, not liking where God has placed you now? Here are a couple more. Ever been tempted to leave a good, not perfect, church over a preference or other non-biblical reason just for a change of “spiritual scenery?” By the way, don’t do the last one. You will fracture a family relationship if you are leaving for non-biblical reasons. And just one more, “Has the spirit of discontent, without a specific cause, just seemed to blanket your heart leaving you disappointed, maybe even depressed?”
The sin of discontent resulted from the first sin in the Garden of Eden. We may even say, along with curiosity in Eve masterfully played by the serpent, the act of eating the fruit ignited this unknown experience in her – discontent with God and His ways. She took her eyes off the Lord, placed them on the tempting fruit, and disobedience came into the human experience. Humanity has battled the sin of discontent ever since because the only source of contentment, a healthy relationship with God, was forfeited, and unable to be restored humanly speaking. But then . . . the glorious “but then” of the Gospel comes and we are able to be reconciled with our source of contentment – God. The Apostle Paul writes, “But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility. And he came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near. For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father” (Ephesians 2:13-18). Now we may again find our contentment in the Lord, but we don’t always go to Him. Even as His children. The pleasures of the world pull hard on our hearts. The screaming cries for comfort, ease, rest, and pleasure from our flesh fuel the remaining sin within to include the embers of discontent. And this battle for contentment in the Lord will be one we constantly fight all the way to heaven, but we can win . . . consistently, and the formula is simple, not easy, but simple. It is in today’s scripture and one verse: verse one.
The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. Do we believe this truth? Then we live it. The Good Shepherd Jesus is all we need for life, and a life of contentment. Seek Him. Be satisfied in Him, and never let anyone or anything come between Him and us. After all, whatever does only fuels discontentment, not contentment.
PRAYER: “Father, forgive me when I am discontent in my life and fail to see Your Son as my source of contentment.”
QUOTE: “A clear sign of the sin of discontent in our lives is the presence of the sin of complaining in our lives.”
In the affection of Christ Jesus,
Pastor Jim