Thursday, May 11
I do Site Meter because I think it's fun to see where people come to my blog from, and I do Google Alerts on the blog because it's interesting to see the ways the phrase 'chasing contentment' is recorded. This morning's alert was particularly good. The 'chasing contentment' mention was in an article entitled "The world is not enough!" by Andy Christofides and published in 2002 in the Evangelical Magazine of Wales, a bimonthly journal that witnesses to the historic evangelical faith of the Christian Church.
"One of the wisest men ever to walk on this planet, King Solomon, at one time set himself the task of finding contentment in the things and people of this world. He indulged himself in every area imaginable (and he had the money and power to do it). He tells us he denied himself nothing - he even had a thousand wives (and a thousand mothers in law!). What we can only dream of, Solomon did. He devoted himself to pursuing knowledge, physical pleasures, building projects, parks and gardens; he tried hard work, toil, amassing more wealth, endless women... the result? He tells us it was all vanity, all empty, all unfulfilling. Chasing contentment in these things, says Solomon, is like chasing the wind - you never get it."
I think we all chase contentment in different ways, some healthy and some not. There is such a temptation to put our hope in things outside of our Lord, whether that hope is in positive or negative endeavors. Now, I've always said that we need certain creature comforts (ike the tenderness of another person), and I believe that God sends people to provide us with what we need here on this Earth.
But I also know that periodically I have to stop and re-evaluate how I'm chasing contentment. Right now, I'm ignoring move stress by shopping (though I've limited myself to beads and legitimately practical things for the new house). I have friends who do other things to ease the tension. I know people who have needs in their lives that they seek to fill with the wrong things or the wrong people.
And so, I know it's important to stop sometimes in the midst of our crazy lives and look at what my desires are and at whether or not those desires fall in line with what God would have in my life. And I need to remember that the contentment I chase is in Him.
[ posted by Chel on Thursday, May 11, 2006 ]
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