Contentment

"Then He said to them, " Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; life does not consist in an abundance of possessions." Luke 12:15

I recently downloaded a free book on kindle - Thomas Watson's "The Art of Divine Contentment". This book was written in the 1600s. It is only 133 pages but it is some of the best insight into living the Christian life today that I have read and I am just at the beginning. 

I  need to be reminded about coveting. I know that I struggle with it and I think I do well in squelching those feelings and then I start to let them creep in again.  Thomas Watson wrote this book so long ago therefore in some places the english is difficult (foreign language?). However, it is much easier than Shakespeare and I had to keep my reading down to just a few pages a day so I could digest it. It is no wonder that I could not find a modern translation but then one would miss the beauty of the original language.

Watson starts out with a list of verses backing up his premise that " It is our work to cast our care and it is God's work to take care." He chooses Philippians 4:11 as the main verse for the basis of the book. "I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content." He is sure to separate this type of care from the care of your heart, to take care that your salvation is sure. The care he is speaking of is the terrestrial care, the care of all things worldly. It seems like too much to ask. Who can actually leave it all up to God?  

As I reached the above verse Luke 12:15, it occurred to me how odd this sentence was put together. Life does not consist in an abundance of possessions. If I interpret this word by word it seems to say true life cannot exist in an abundance of possessions. Is this where we have placed our lives? This challenge from Biblical truth is more of a warning than a rule. Jesus warns that life fizzles in an abundance of possession. Life can be so much more exciting when we live it for the other people in it than our possessions.