Phil Inglis - July 21, 2019
Be Content
Desire can drive some incredibly destructive behaviours. A couple of decades ago Nike began to produce a range of basketball shoes in collaboration with Michael Jordan, the greatest basketball player of his generation (some would say of all time). These shoes are known as 'Air Jordans' and they became insanely popular, so much so that people were mugged, stabbed, and even killed, for no other reason than someone desired their shoes. Today there are many collectors of shoes and pairs of shoes are often traded for hundreds or thousands of dollars. Nike recently made a limited batch of shoes (originally created as a prop in the 'Back to the Future' movies) which sell for over $30,000 a pair. Yes, that’s a three followed by four zeros. You might think that Christ followers would be immune to this sort of desire but the truth is, no-one is immune to the effects of desire. How often do you hear of world famous preachers and church leaders making incredibly stupid decisions and destroying lives and ministries because of their desire? Some of my heroes of church leadership are today languishing in obscurity and shame because of their desire for more than they had. This week we explore what it is to be content. The true antidote to destructive desire is contentment. It doesn’t mean that we won’t experience desire, that's simply part of human nature. But learning to be content makes the desire more manageable and makes it less likely to result in destructive actions. The secret to contentedness lies in learning gratefulness, practicing righteousness and resting in the nearness of God.
Scripture References: 2 Samuel 12:1-12
From Series: "Indispensable"
Seven pieces of indispensable wisdom from the bible.
