PHILIPPIANS 4:10-13 – I rejoiced in the Lord greatly that now at length you have revived your concern for me. You were indeed concerned for me, but you had no opportunity. Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me.”
THEME OF THE DAY: YES, IT IS SIN. The 17th century Puritan Pastor, Thomas Watson, once said, “Satan loves to fish in the troubled waters of a discontented heart.” The picture this wise pastor paints is vivid. It is the heart of the believer seeking to find what is found in Christ alone – contentment. And Watson also reveals how crafty Satan is when a believer’s spiritual condition of discontent prevails in the heart. The evil one comes rushing in with all kinds of temptations and promises to get us to find satisfaction in anything or anyone apart from Christ. Here is the germination of the sin of worldliness in the believer.
If we hope to be wise, discerning, and fight spiritual warfare against this scheme of the devil, two things need to occur. First, the realization that discontentment is sin; and a serious sin against God. It tells Him by our attitude that we are not satisfied in Christ alone. We want more – different circumstances, different situations, different locations, different jobs, different living conditions, different churches, maybe even different relationships. Discontent is rebellion against God’s sovereignty in our lives to be confronted with confession and repentance. The proper response to the sin of discontentment is that of David in the Psalm of repentance – Against You, and You only have I sinned and done what is evil in Your sight (Psalm 51:4). Jerry Bridges, in his excellent book Respectable Sins Confronting the Sins We Tolerate, page 73, wrote, “Whatever situation tempts us to be discontent, however severe it may be, we need to recognize that discontentment is sin. That statement may surprise many readers. We are so used to responding to difficult circumstances with anxiety, frustration, or discontentment that we consider them normal reactions to the varying vicissitudes of life. But if we tend to think this way, that just points out to us the subtleness and acceptability of these sins. When we fail to recognize these responses to our circumstances as sin, we are responding no differently from unbelievers who never factor God into their situations. We are back to our ungodliness as the root cause of our sins.”
Once we see discontentment for what it is, sin against God because of our dissatisfaction with God, we then move into today’s scripture. It is the classic text on contentment. The Apostle Paul learned this state of being satisfied in Christ alone and so must we. His example encourages us because it is a learned state and learned by experiencing likely the most misapplied, out of context verse in the Bible – “I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.” This is not a verse to run to when fear grips us, anxiety is real, and we are weak. Yes, the principle applies of the sufficiency of Christ, but the context is contentment. Paul is stating he has learned through the strength of Jesus to be satisfied in Him. Keep it in its context and enjoy its application against the sin of discontentment. It will bring us to consistent conquering of the sin of discontentment. And yes, it is a sin.
PRAYER: “Father, forgive me when I attempt to find satisfaction and contentment in anything or anyone other than Christ.”
QUOTE: “Jesus is enough to satisfy all of our yearnings in life for meaning, contentment, purpose and satisfaction. Look nowhere else.”
In the affection of Christ Jesus,
Pastor Jim