Your Daily Devotional for August 28, 2007

 

August 28,  2007

 

 

A Discontent Life

by Dr. Paul Chappell

 

 

"From whence come wars and fightings among you? come they not hence, even of your lusts that war in your members? Ye lust, and have not: ye kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain: ye fight and war, yet ye have not, because ye ask not. Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts."

 

James 4:1-3

 

 

There is a story of a rich industrialist who was disturbed to find a fisherman sitting lazily beside his boat. "Why aren't you out there fishing?" he asked. "Because I've caught enough fish for today," said the fisherman. "Why don't you catch more fish than you need?" the rich man asked "What would I do with them?" "You could earn more money," came the impatient reply, "and buy a better boat so you could go deeper and catch more fish. You could purchase nylon nets, catch even more fish, and make more money. Soon you'd have a fleet of boats and be rich like me."

 

The fisherman asked, "Then what would I do?" "You could sit down and enjoy life," said the industrialist. "What do you think I'm doing now?" the fisherman replied as he looked placidly out to sea.

 

There is a push in our world to do more than the next person. Most people want to be better than anyone else and make a name for themselves. These people lead a life of discontentment. If we are not careful, we can become caught up with this movement and become discontent with what we have.

 

When we are discontent, we can ruin the relationships we have. James 4:1 tells us, "From whence come wars and fightings among you? come they not hence, even of your lusts that war in your members?" When we focus on ourselves and our own needs, we can fail to see the needs of others. If we would seek to meet the needs of others instead of our own needs, we could avoid much strife and fighting.

 

Also, when we are discontent, we can many times lose our integrity. First Timothy 6:9-10 says, "But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition. For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows." Many people in today's society would think nothing of lying to make a profit. God wants us to be honest in all we do!

 

Former Northern Colorado football player Mitch Cozad seemed like a normal college student, but his jealousy and discontentment drove him to do something no one thought was possible of him. He was the back up punter but wanted the first-string job. He was so desperate that he attacked Rafael Mendoza, the first-string kicker, and attempted to end his kicking career.

 

When a person is discontent with what they have in life, it will often drive them to do things they never thought of doing. Even so, when we live a discontented life, we may end up ruining our relationships or losing our integrity.

 

Are you content with where God has placed you and with what He has given you? It is a dangerous thing to begin comparing your life with someone else's. God desires that we look to Him and be content with Him. Ask Him to help you be content as you live for Him today.

 

Daily Bible Reading

Psalm 123-125 • 1 Corinthians 10:1-18

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