Contentment in Christ is the joyful acceptance of God's provision and sovereign will, regardless of external circumstances. It contrasts worldly dissatisfaction by focusing on spiritual riches and godliness rather than material gain (1 Timothy 6:6). Illustrations often use pictures of old age, simplicity, and the contrast between bitterness and cheerfulness to depict this serene trust (Philippians 4:11-13).
Old age is a privilege to be enjoyed, as its absence means death.
Old age is a privilege. You cannot buy it. You cannot sell it. You cannot earn it. You cannot inherit it. You cannot merit it. So if you are fortunate enough to have it, for heaven's sake enjoy it; and do not complain about it. Remember, if you were not old-you would be dead.
A Christian finds joy and contentment in changing circumstances by focusing on blessings.
As an elderly Christian lady with arthritis sat by her front window watching the traffic go by, she said, "I don't know what I'd do without that traffic to keep me interested." Later on she was moved to a room in the rear where she could no longer see the traffic from the window. She conceded, "I like this better. I can watch the sweetest little children next door playing in the backyard." At last she was moved to the slums of the city. To a friend she said, "Come and see my beautiful view-my beautiful view of the sky!"
Being wise like the fox means accepting what you cannot have without bitterness.
There is a fable concerning a fox who kept leaping up at some inviting looking grapes. Unable to reach them despite his best efforts, he came to the conclusion that they did look rather sour. He walked away without pangs of covetousness. Be as smart as a fox if you want to be happy. Consider the things that you cannot obtain as "sour grapes."
Learning to be happy by adapting to what you do not have brings contentment.
A nurse was showing a patient to his room. "Now," she said, "we want you to be happy and enjoy yourself while here, so if there is anything you want that we haven't got, let me know and I'll show you how to get along without it."
True joy comes from an inner appetite for God, not from external circumstances or possessions.
A poor man had his meager lunch stolen by one of his fellow workers. Hungry after the lunch hour, he sang and praised the Lord, and the workers made fun of him. They said, "My goodness, your very lunch has been stolen from you and you're praising God. What for? You're stupid!" "Oh, no," he said, "I'm not stupid. They may have stolen my lunch, but they couldn't steal my appetite from me." The Christian's Choice There's much truth in saying that every man is the architect of his own fate. Your choices affect your destiny. Out of a rough block of stone one man may make a beautiful statue, another, gravel. Both products are good and useful under certain conditions. But a statue can be immoral in conception, and gravel can be the grudging and punitive work of a criminal condemned to a rockpile. The point is, whether you are a gifted artist or a competent gravel maker, you can choose whether to use your abilities worthily or unworthily. In building a Christian life you have the same choice.
True gain is godliness with contentment, not the accumulation of possessions.
"But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that" (1 Timothy 6:6-8). Our generation wants it all. Many people who are 30 and under have always had it all. The lack of material things during the Great Depression has affected the attitudes of many older people. So many, both young and old, are concerned with driving the right car, wearing clothes with the right label and vacationing at the "in" places. Yet, having all these only leads to a desire for more. How we accumulate! The man who has everything needs a place to put it. Our closets are running over. We buy houses with two car garages and then leave our cars outside. The garage is full of things. Mini-warehouses and storage facilities are a growth industry. Is this accumulation perhaps one reason vans and pickup trucks are so popular? We need bigger vehicles to carry what we have. But has a richer life produced a better life? The most popular prescription drugs relieve anxiety and hypertension. The most popular over-the-counter drugs are aspirin and related pain killers. Also, if abundance brings happiness, we would assume that the people who have the most possessions have the greatest happiness. Yet even the most casual observer can see this is not true. In his accumulation of things, is not man searching for contentment? The bottom line, according to Paul is not how much you have. The bottom line on personal profit and loss is finding godliness with contentment. What do we need to be content? Paul's statement is almost heretical to our materialistic ears. All that is necessary is food and clothing. These should be the limit of our earthly desires. Matthew Henry well said, "The necessities of life are the bounds of a true Christian's desires. Truly, the secret of contentment is not having much but wanting little. This is not to say we cannot have more than food and clothing. It means that having more than these presents a temptation (1 Timothy 6:9). May we, as God's children, refuse to let the world squeeze us into its mold, and refuse to imitate it as it seeks everything to live with and nothing to live for.
True satisfaction and joy come from God, not from worldly possessions or status.
John Gipson shares this lesson: "As I turned the key in the ignition my car radio sprang to life. Some popular singer was belting out the lyrics, 'I can't get no satisfaction.'I didn't care for the song and turned the dial. But the memory lingered. I wonder how many people there are in the world who cannot find satisfaction? Do they even know where to look? "Countless people are on record to testify that satisfaction does not come in gathering up things for ourselves. As Horace said, 'Those who seek for much are left in want of much. Happy is he to whom God has given, with sparing hand, as much as is enough.' "And satisfaction does not come in showing off a Gold Card, or bragging about one's possessions. In fact, 'If the crow had been satisfied to eat his prey in silence, he would have had more meat and less quarreling and envy.' "I learned something last week from a commercial. Normally, I do not care for commercials. They carry about as much weight with me as a political jingle. But this one caught my attention. The man was explaining that when he was growing up he tried everything in the world to make his sister cry. Nothing worked. Then last week he decided to send her a bouquet of flowers. And you know what? She cried. "Sometimes we get the desired results in the most unexpected ways. "Take the young woman with a busy schedule and small children who went out of her way to minister to a family in need. After her mission was complete she said, 'I just have to do more of that. It really makes me feel good inside.' "David knew people who were saying, 'Oh, that we might see some good!'But he confessed to God, 'Thou hast put more joy in my heart than they have when their grain and wine abound' (Psalms 4:7). Only by drawing near to God would he ever find complete satisfaction. Thus he says, 'As for me, I shall behold thy face in righteousness; when I awake, I shall be satisfied with beholding thy form' (Psalms 17:15). "It is sad that a lot of people cannot find any satisfaction because they do not know where to look. Take out your Bible and read John 10:10."
Christ alone satisfies the heart, enabling contentment in all circumstances.
“I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content.” Philippians 4:11
Christ is enough to satisfy the hearts of all who confide in Him and who leave everything in His hands. Such need never be cast dawn by seeming misfortunes.
A Christian asked another how he was getting along. Dolefully his friend replied, “Oh, fairly well, under the circumstances.”
“I am sorry,” exclaimed the other, “that you are under the circumstances. The Lord would have us living above all circumstances, where He Himself can satisfy our hearts and meet our every need for time and eternity.”
True riches are spiritual—God, Christ, and the Spirit—not worldly possessions.
"The more abundance of truly valuable things a man hath, the more he hath of true riches; a child counteth himself rich when he hath a great many pins, and points, and cherry-stones, for these suit his childish age and fancy; a worldly man counteth himself rich when he hath a great store of gold and silver, or lands and heritages, or bills and bonds; but a child of God counteth himself rich when he hath God for his Portion, Christ to be his Redeemer, and the Spirit for his Guide, Sanctifier, and Comforter; which is as much above a carnal man's estate in the world, as a carnal man's estate is above a child's toys and trifles; yea, infinitely more."
It is above all things desirable that we adopt a correct scale of estimates. When we make our personal audit, we shall fall into grievous error if the principles of our reckoning are not thoroughly accurate. If we reckon brass as silver, and silver as gold, we shall dream that we are rich when we are in penury. In taking stock of our own condition, let us be sure only to reckon that for riches which is really riches to us. Wealth to the worldling is not wealth to the Christian. His currency is different, his valuables are of another sort.
Am I to-day poorer in money than I was ten years ago; and am I at the same time more humble, more patient, more earnest, more believing? Then set me down as a richer man. Have my worldly goods largely increased during the last few years? Am I some thousands of pounds in advance of my former position? but am I also more proud, more carnal-minded, more lukewarm, more petulant? Then I must write myself down as a poorer man, whatever men may think of my estate.
A Christian’s riches are within him. External belongings are by no means a sure gain to a man. A horse is none the better off for gilded trappings; and a man is, in very truth, none the richer for sumptuous surroundings. Paul was richer than Croesus, when he was able to say, "I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound: everywhere and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need." Such contentment surpasses riches. Outwardly Paul was "poor," but inasmuch as he was "making many rich" he must have been rich himself; for nothing can come out of a man which is not in him. Solomon was a very Lazarus, when, after summing up all his possessions and delights, he was compelled to add, "Vanity of vanities, all is vanity!"
If a man should labour to be rich after the African fashion, and should accumulate a large store of shells and beads; yet when he came home to England he would be a beggar, even though he had a shipload of such rubbish. So he who gives his heart and soul to the accumulation of gold and silver coin is a beggar when he comes into the spiritual realm, where such round medals are reckoned as mere forms of earth, non-current in heaven, and of less value than the least of spiritual blessings.
We have read that when Bernard visited a monastery of ascetic monks, they were shocked because the saddle on which he rode was most sumptuously adorned. They thought that this ill became his profession as a meek and lowly man. Judge of their surprise and satisfaction when he told them that he had never so much as noticed what it was whereon he sat. The fact was, that the horse and saddle were not his own, but had been lent to him by his uncle, and their nature had not been perceived by him during the whole of his journey.
This is the way to use all earthly treasure, making small account whether we have it or not; even as Paul says, "It remaineth, that both they that have wives be as though they had none; and they that weep, as though they wept not; and they that rejoice, as though they rejoiced not; and they that buy, as though they possessed not; and they that use this world, as not abusing it: for the fashion of this world passeth away." Our goods are good if we do not account them our highest good.
Even Jonah's gourd did him good until he
Cheerfulness in old age is like sunshine in a dark winter, beneficial throughout life.
Cheerfulness ought to be the viaicum vitae of their life to the old. Age without cheerfulness is a Lapland winter without a sun; and this spirit should be encouraged in our youth, if we would wish to have the benefit of it in our old age. Time will make a generous wine more mellow; but it will turn that which is early on the fret into vinegar. Colton.
Contentment in suffering contrasts with worldly attachment to treasures at death's approach.
Mrs. G— was one day visiting an aged man, a friend of her father, and one who was associated with him in early life. Though differing widely in sentiment, the two old men still felt a deep interest in each other. Mr. S— had been one of those who run after the world and overtake it. All that it can give he had obtained. Now, he inquired of the state of his friend, whom he knew to be in circumstances of far less external comfort than himself. As he listened to the story of his patience in suffering, and of the cheerfulness with which he could look forward. either to a longer pilgrimage in this world or to the hour of death, his conscience applied the unexpressed reproach, and he exclaimed, "Yes, yes; you wonder I cannot be as quiet and happy too; but think of the difference: he is going to his treasure, and I—I must leave mine." Tract Journal.
Avoid worrying over trifles to keep life’s troubles from overwhelming you.
Never trouble yourself with trifles, and soon all trouble will appear a trifle. Never trouble yourself with trouble, till trouble troubles you. Alexander, after he had conquered the world, was greatly troubled because he could not make the ivy grow in his gardens at Babylon.
Constant complaining shows a lack of contentment, always finding fault with circumstances.
Some people are always "out of sorts." The weather is always just what they don't want. I met one of these men a while ago, a farmer, who raised all manner of crops. It was a wet day, and I said, "Mr. Nayling, this rain will be fine for your grass-crop."—"Yes, perhaps; but it is bad for the corn, and will keep it back. I don't believe we shall have a crop." A few days after this, when the sun was shining hot, I said, "Fine sun for your corn, sir."—"Yes, pretty fair; but it's awful for the rye. Rye wants cold weather." Again: on a cold morning, I met my neighbor, and said, "This must be capital for your rye, Mr. Nayling."—"Yes; but it is the very worst weather for the corn and grass. They want heat to bring them forward." Dr. Todd.
Contentment enables joy even in harsh, lacking circumstances.
A poor widow, not having bed-clothes to shelter her boy from the snow which was blown through the cracks of her miserable hovel, used to cover him with boards. One night, he said to her suilingly and contentedly, "Ma, what do poor folks do these cold nights, that haven't any boards to put on their children?"
Recognizing God's provision calms discontent and fosters peace.
Alexander was discontented because ivy would not grow in his gardens at Babylon; but Diogenes was more wise, who, finding a mouse in his satchel, said he saw that himself was not so poor but some were glad of his leavings. Had we but hearts to improve higher providences, we might soon rock our peevish spirits quiet.
— Spencer
Choosing to be content brings peace even without perfect circumstances.
What a beautiful example for all of us is the resolution of the old lady, who, from a crabbed and anxious body, became quite the opposite! When asked what had induced the change, she replied, "To tell you the truth, I have been all my life striving for a contented mind, and finally concluded to sit down contented without it."
Contentment with God's provision brings blessing; greed brings decay.
One observes concerning manua, when the people were contented with the allowance that God gave them, then it was very good; but when they would not be content with God's allowance, but would be gathering more, then, says the text, "There were worms in it." So, when we are content with our conditions, and that which God disposeth of us to be in, there's a blessing in it; but if we must needs be reaching out for more than God hath allotted, or to keep it longer than God would have us, then there will be worms in it, a canker to eat it, a moth to fret it, nothing at all that is good.
— Spencer
Accepting God's will leads to true contentment regardless of circumstances.
A gentleman, travelling on a misty morning, asked a shepherd what weather it would be. "It will be," said the shepherd, "what weather pleaseth me." Being requested to explain his meaning, he said, "Sir, it shall be what weather pleases God; and what weather pleases God pleases me."
Contentment brings comfort equal to having all desired things.
By the art of navigation, with great pains and industry, men fetch in the silks of Persia, the spices of Egypt, the gold of Ophir, the treasures of the Indies. By the art of contentment, a man may stay at home, and fetch in the comfort of any condition whatsoever; that is, he may have that comfort by contentment that he should have if he had the very things themselves.
True godly desire is tempered with submission to God's will and wisdom.
He that is much habituated to delight in God is not apt to foolish, extravagant desires. This is the sense of such a one, "Not my will, Lord, but thine, be done." He may desire the same thing that others do, yet not with the same peremptory and precipitant desire, but with a desire tempered with submission, and with a reserved deference of the matter to the divine pleasure: "This thing, Lord, I desire if thou see good." So that the general object of such a one's desire is only that which in the divine estimate is fit and good for him; and though he desire this or that particular thing, yet not as it is this thing, but as supposing it possible this thing may be judged fit for him by the supreme wisdom, whereto he hath referred the matter.
— John Howe
Believing God can make us happy without earthly blessings brings true contentment.
Christians might avoid much trouble and inconvenience if they would only believe what they profess,—that God is able to make them happy without any thing else. They imagine if such a dear friend were to die, or such and such blessings to be removed, they should be miserable; whereas God can make them a thousand times happier without them. To mention my own case, God has been depriving me of one blessing after another: but, as every one was removed, he has come in, and filled up its place; and now, when I am a cripple, and not able to move, I am happier than ever I was in my life before, or ever expected to be. And, if I had believed this twenty years ago, I might have been spared much anxiety. Dr. Payson.
Taking short views and being thankful for present blessings helps overcome fear and anxiety.
It was wise advice of Sydney Smith, when he said that those who desire to go hopefully and cheerfully through their work in this life should "take short views;" not plan too far ahead: take the present blessing, and be thankful for it. Boyd.
True happiness is found in God alone, who is all and satisfies all needs.
King Porus, when Alexander asked him, being then his prisoner, how he would be used, answered in one word, "Basilikiros;" that is, "Like a king." Alexander again replying, "Do you desire nothing else?"—"No," said he: "all things are in this one word, 'Like a king.'" Whereupon, Alexander restored him again. But this has not always been the happiness of kings and princes. Yet he that hath God hath all things, because God is all things. Take a pen, and write down riches, honors, preferments, they are but as so many eiphers; they signify nothing: but write down God alone, and he will raise them to thousands, hundreds of thousands. And then it is that a Christian is truly happy, — when he can find himself and all things in his God. Spencer.
True happiness comes from owning Christ, not earthly possessions or status.
A pious and cheerful old slave, being asked if he was never unhappy, answered, "I neither allows myself to 'flect on de bad tings dat happen to me, nor de good tings dat I neither had; and, when I tink about something to call my own, it seems as if I had a big treasure right here, dat I don't owe any man for. When all de rest ob de world are saying, 'Dis is my house,' 'Dat is my sugar-mill.' 'Dere is my great cotton-patch,' I say, 'Dere is my hope, and dere is my Saviour;' and, when I own de Lord Jesus, it seems as if I owned all de rest; for de earth is de Lord's, and de fulness dercof. De air is mine, and I can bread it; de sunshine is mine, and I can sit in it; de earth is mine, and I can lie down on it to sleep."
Happiness springs from the mind's disposition, not external circumstances.
The fountain of content must spring up in the mind; and he who has so little knowledge of human nature as to seek happiness by changing any thing but his own dispositions will waste his life in fruitless efforts, and multiply the griefs which he purposes to remove. Johnson.
Happiness is more equally shared than material wealth among people.
Happiness is much more equally divided than some of us imagine. One man shall possess most of the materials, but little of the thing: another man possesses much of the thing, but very few of the materials. Colton.
No one can be truly happy without considering themselves so, regardless of status.
He must be miserable who does not consider himself happy, although he could command the universe. No man can be happy who does not think himself so; for it signifies not how exalted soever your station may be, if it appear to you bad.
— Seneca
Earthly achievements fail to bring lasting happiness, pointing to a deeper need.
Eight gentlemen were once travelling together; when each gave his experience in reply to the question, "Are you happy, fully happy?" A banker said that he had acquired a fortune, which was invested beyond a possibility of loss; that he had a most lovely and devoted family, yet the thought that he must leave them all forever cast a funeral-pall over the decline of his life. A military officer said that he had known glory and the intoxication of triumph; but, after the battle, he passed over the field, and found a brother-officer dying. Trying to relieve him, the dying man said, "Thank you; but it is too late. We must all die: think upon it; think upon it." This scene and these words fastened upon him, and he could find no deliverance. He confessed his unhappiness. A diplomatist spoke of the honors and gratitude showered upon him during a long and successful career, yet confessed an emptiness of the heart, a secret malady, which all his honors could not cure. A poet told of the pleasures he enjoyed with the Muses; of the applause of the people; of his fame, which he was assured was immortal; but, dissatisfied, he cries out, "What is such an immortality?" and declares his unsatisfied longing for a higher immortality. A man of the world said that his effort had been to laugh at every thing; to look at the bright side of things, and be gay; to find pleasure in the ball-room, theatre, and other amusements; yet confessed that he sometimes had the ennui, and was not perfectly happy. A lawyer of threescore and ten said that he had health, wealth, reputation, and domestic felicity; that, during his period of labor, he longed for just what he now possessed; but he did not find the expected enjoyment, and contentment was not his heritage. His hours were long; his existence monotonous; he was not fully happy. A religious professor, who seems to have been only a ritualist at best, professed his strict adherence to the doctrines of the gospel, and his punctual performance of its duties, without being happy at all. A Christian physician narrated his search for happiness in the world and in his profession in vain; how he had been led by the Scriptures to see himself a sinner, and to look to Christ as his Saviour; since which he had found peace, contentment, and joy, and had no fear of the end, which to him was but the commencement.
True felicity is not earthly but found in the heavenly realm beyond misfortune.
As the ivy twines around the oak, so does misery and misfortune encompass the happiness of man. Felicity, pure and unalloyed felicity, is not a plant of earthly growth: her gardens are the skies. Burton.
Perfect happiness is having a mind resting in charity, Providence, and truth.
It is heaven upon earth to have a man's mind move in charity, rest in Providence, and turn upon the poles of truth. Lord Bacon.
True pleasure is found in religion and repentance, not in sin and wild living.
A careless man, a reckless sinner, was arrested in the midst of his wild career of wickedness, and brought to repentance. By the great mercy of God, he was converted, pardoned, and began to lead a new life. The great change in his habits excited the remarks of all the neighbors. Meeting with one of his old associates one day, the latter remarked, "I hear you have given up all your pleasures." — "No," replied the other calmly: "I never knew what pleasure was till now. And as I have tried the pleasure of sin and religion both, and you only one, I ought to be the best judge." Dr. Wise.
Moderate enjoyment preserves sweetness; greed and excess cause loss and sorrow.
Being with a friend in a garden, we gathered each of us a rose. He handled his tenderly; smelt it but seldom and sparingly. I always kept mine to my nose, or squeezed it in my hand; whereby, in a very short time, it lost both its color and its sweetness: but his still remained as sweet and fragrant as if it had been growing upon its own root. "These roses," said I, "are the true emblems of the best and sweetest creature-enjoyment in the world; which, being moderately and cautiously used and enjoyed, may for a long time yield sweetness to the possessor of them: but if once the affections seize greedily upon them, and squeeze them too hard, they quickly wither in our hands, and we lose the comfort of them; and that either through the soul surfeiting upon them, or the Lord's righteous and just removal of them, because of the excess of our affections to them." Flavel.
True life is measured by quality and trust in God's better promises, not length.
He lives long who lives well; and time misspent is not lived, but lost. Besides, God is better than his promises, if he takes from him a long lease, and gives a freehold of a better value. Fuller.
Choosing spiritual riches over worldly wealth leads to true life and death peace.
A philosopher asking one, which of these two he had rather be, — Cruesus, one of the richest, but most vicious in the world; or Socrates, one of the poorest, but one of the most virtuous men in the world, — his answer was, that, in his life, he would be a Cruesus, but in his death a Socrates. So, if many in these days were put to their choice, they would be Dives in their life, but Lazarus in their death: they would, with Balzain, die the death of the righteous, but live the life of the wicked. Spencer.
Earthly comforts should be used as aids, not as sources of ultimate happiness.
We may possess earthly comforts; but we must not be possessed by them: we may use them as flowers to smell, but not as garlands to crown ourselves with: we may as pilgrims walk with them, as staves in our hands, seeking the country which is above; but we may not load ourselves with them, or bear them as burdens upon our backs: we may make them our encouragement, but not our confidence: we may use them as accessories; but we may not love them as our principal happiness. Spurxore.
Murmuring reflects an evil heart; faith trusts God even in adversity.
Murmuring persons think every thing done by themselves too much, and every thing done for them too little.—Dyer.—In the worst of times, there is more cause to complain of an evil heart than of an evil world.—Fleming.—Many are like the farmer, who wanted sunshine for his wheat, and rain for his grass, all at the same time.—Barnes.—"I mourn, but do not murmur," said a deeply-afflicted Christian.
Complaining over small losses is unreasonable when God has given us much.
Seneca hath his similitude to set out the great evil of murmuring under small afflictions. Suppose, saith he, a man to have a very fair house to dwell in, with very fair orchards and gardens set about with brave tall trees for ornament: what a most unreasonable thing were it in this man to murmur because the wind blows a few leaves off the trees, though they hang full of fruit! If God takes a little, and gives us much, shall we be discontent?—if he takes our son, and gives us his own; if he cause the trees to bring forth the fruit, shall we be angry if the wind blow away the leaves? Venning.
Like a tree off the highway, a believer must find quiet to mature spiritually.
Depart from the highway, and transplant thyself in some enclosed ground; for it is hard for a tree that stands by the wayside to keep her fruit till it be ripe. Chrysostom.
God encourages faithful work with the promise of rest and refreshment afterward.
"Are you not wearying for our heavenly rest?" said Whitefield one day to an old clergyman. "No, certainly not!" he replied. "Why not?" was the surprised rejoinder. "Why, my good friend," said the old minister, "if you were to send your servant into the fields to do a certain portion of work for you, and promised to give him rest and refreshment in the evening, what would you say if you found him languid and discontented in the middle of the day, and murmuring, 'Would to God it were evening!'—would you not bid him be up and doing, and finish his work, and then go home and get the promised rest? Just so does God say to you and me."
Worldlings despair over earthly loss; Christians rejoice in heavenly gain.
If a poor man, having all his wealth about him, should fall into the hands of thieves, and be robbed of all, he would take on pitifully; for he is undone: but a rich man, who has much treasure locked up safely at home, will not complain much of the loss of a few shillings. Thus for worldlings to rage and take on when they must lose their life or peace or wealth is no marvel; for, alas! when these things are gone, they have nothing left: but the Christian cares not though he may be stripped of all in this world; and rejoices in death, that hastens him to a better possession. Spencer.
A poor woman treasures her Bible above all possessions, finding contentment in it.
A little beyond the smoking ruins of one hundred tenements which had been destroyed by fire, in the city of New-York, Dr. Ely overtook a woman of color; under one arm she carried five large brands, and under the other a quarto Bible. "Poor woman," said he, "have you been burned out too?" "Yes, massa, but blessed be God, I'm alive." "You are very old to be turned out of house and home." "I'm well stricken in years, but God does it; and in dis world 'tis one's turn to-day, and anudder's to-morrow." "Have you saved nothing but the Bible?" "Noting but one trunk o' things; but dis blessed book is wort more as all de rest. It make me feel better than all de rest. So long as I keep dis, I content."
# 67. Love for the Bible.
Complaining ignores God's sovereign provision amid life's challenges and blessings.
A person with not very ample means of support, was burthened with a large family. A neighbor had just called to tell him of a friend who had got a prize in a lottery, when he was also informed of the birth of his twelfth child. He exclaimed, peevishly, "God sends meat to others,
# 355. PUNC
Choosing God over worldly riches is the true measure of a Christian's contentment.
"This morning," says Mr. Fuller, "I have read another of Edwards' sermons, on God the Christian's Portion, from Psalm lxxiii. 25. The latter part comes very close, and I feel myself at a loss what to judge as to God's being my chief good. He asks, whether we had rather live in this world rich and without God, or poor and with him? Perhaps I should not be so much at a loss to decide this question as another; namely, had I rather be rich in this world, and enjoy but little of God; or poor and enjoy much of God? I am confident the practice of great numbers of professing Christians declares that they prefer the former; and in some instances I feel guilty of the same thing."
Retiring from active life is like preparing for death, marking a pause before the end.
A captain of Adrian's guards, who retired from active life, aged sixty, dictated the following epitaph for himself: "Here lies Similis, who lived but seven years, though he died at sixty-seven." An officer asked a discharge of Charles V., assigning as a reason, that there ought to be a pause between the hurry of life and the day of death.
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