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Godliness with Contentment is Great wealth

We all come to the end of our lives as naked and empty-handed as on the day we were born. We can’t take our riches with us. And this, too, is a very serious problem. People leave this world no better off than when they came. All their hard work is for nothing—like working for the wind. Throughout their lives, they live under a cloud—frustrated, discouraged, and angry. Ecclesiastes 5:14-17

There is an old adage that was made a title of a movie and a play in the 1930’s, “You Can’t Take it With You.” It deals on man’s dilemma to pursue material things in life and yet be confronted with the reality that you can’t bring whatever you have accumulated in the next life. As the writer of Ecclesiastes expressed from the text, there will be those that will devote time and energy so they could build a wealth. Yet, just like what the writer said, “People leave this world no better off than when they came. All their hard work is for nothing—like working for the wind.” Perhaps this kind of desire to pursue things from this world comes from a mindset thinking that life will not end or a sense of immortality. It could also be coming from a longing for security and to have more than enough of the things of this world will ease them from feelings of insecurity. Or this desire to have more could be the result of having a sense of fame or worth and to have the wealth of this world could provide those yearnings. But the truth is we did not bring anything when we came into this world and we will take nothing out of it. Everything we have is “on lease” to us by God. Any time that lease could be revoked by the One who granted us temporary ownership for He owns everything. This is what Job declared when everything in his life were gone. “I came naked from my mother’s womb, and I will be naked when I leave. The Lord gave me what I had, and the Lord has taken it away. Praise the name of the Lord!” (Job 1:21). Ultimately, we would surrender everything we have when we leave this earth. Come to think of it, when you ponder upon the temporal nature of all the things in this world it provides you a perspective that there is something that you can look forward to when life here on earth is done. There will be permanence and eternal joy in the presence of God and all the things we accumulated in this world will have no value in the eternal world that God promised. Learn the joy of being content with what God gives you and learn to hold them loosely so that when the time comes that you need to release them, you will have the freedom to do so. Follow Christ’s example of giving freely and sacrificially so that you will experience the joy of living for His glory. Paul lived by Christ’s example and discovered the joy of contentment. “Yet true godliness with contentment is itself great wealth. After all, we brought nothing with us when we came into the world, and we can’t take anything with us when we leave it. So if we have enough food and clothing, let us be content” (1Timothy 6:6-8).

Blessings.

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