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    How often are we really satisfied with what we have? Sometimes we pretend we are, but the truth is that sinful greed and want constantly war with our desire to be content, trying to convince us that we need something more, better- what our neighbor has or something even better than that. How often to be go to great lengths to get whatever that thing is, only to become discontented again and begin yet another pursuit of some thing?
    Israel did the same thing as Samuel aged. They were not content any longer for God to rule over them through His priests and judges. Instead, they wanted a king like their neighbors, the very neighbors with whom they constantly fought. In doing so, they rejected God’s plan for them, demanding what they thought would make them content and secure instead.
    Instead of contentment, Israel entered itself into what was arguably the most turbulent period of its captivity up until Jesus’ day, that is the time of the kings of Israel and Judah that ended with the destruction of Jerusalem and the Babylonian captivity. Instead of the peace and prosperity God promised them by following His ways and obeying His appointed rulers, Israel returned to the very kind of slavery that God had liberated them from in Egypt.
    Our own pursuit of worldly contentment follows the same path. Too often our pursuit of worldly contentment through material gain leads us only to greater debt, more desire, and an insidious separation from God as we try to find yet another thing to appease our desire to have more. This is not what God would have for us. Instead, He promised us to provide what we need when we need it as we seek first His Kingdom and Righteousness.
    When we follow that path, we find that we are truly satisfied. Suddenly the siren-call of worldly possessions becomes meaningless compared to the shining value of the Gospel. Cloaked in that Word, we find that we do have what we need when we need it, and further we are prepared and able to share that Gospel with those who see our contentedness and want to know how it is achieved.
DLH
