Are You Satisfied?

by Dee Bowman
Southside Church of Christ
Pasadena, Texas

Are you satisfied with how you are using those 72 hours each week?

We are also fascinated with comfort in our generation. Time was when being cold at night was just part of what happened and people gathered around some central fire to gain the warmth from it. Nowadays people have central heat and air conditioning. The same comfort is available in our automobiles or in public transportation. When we go to the mall, it is conditioned to make us comfortable. Our furniture features things to make us comfortable. Our mattresses are king-sized, our chairs raise and lower with levers, our heat and air conditioning are automatic so that we set the temperature we want and forget it. We are disposed to comfort.

Are you satisfied with your own comfort level?

We demand convenience in our age. We don’t want anything that you have to strain to do. We have mechanized everything. We have power mowers, power saws, power hammers, power screw drivers, power blowers, power toothbrushes, power massagers, power seats, powerful cars, powerful modes of public transportation--everything is power and powerful. We now have Email, priority mail, over-night mail, all of which makes life more convenient. Entertainment has become convenient. The movies come to us. Recordings are digitalized to reproduce a sound even better than the original “live” performance. We rent whatever we want to see. We want only what is convenient, easy to reach, at hand. If it’s not convenient, we won’t have much to do with it. And we don’t want anything that’s hard to do, anything that has some difficulty attached to it. Perish the thought!

Are you satisfied with your conveniences?

The Christian should be un-satisfied. But he should be satisfied, as well. And, too, he should be dis-satisfied.

The Christian is to be satisfied. Paul says, “I have learned in whatever state I am in therewith to be content.” Contentment is a rare commodity in this age. It is elusive because of what we see around us. We look at all the baubles of life and immediately we are dis-satisfied with what we have. We want more. The word “content” in the Greek is autarkes and has to do with having what is sufficient for oneself, being pleased with one’s station in life. The Christian needs to learn contentment. But it will only be learned when we begin to consider our situation without concern for things and with concern for Heaven. The same Apostle said, “Godliness with contentment is great gain” (1 Tim. 6:6); and if he be the Hebrew writer, said, in Hebrews 13:5, “…be content with such things as ye have.”

But remember, too, that satisfaction can be the tool of the Devil. It gives a false sense of security.

The Christian is to be un-satisfied. The person who truly loves God has deliberately changed his appetites to suit this new relationship in Christ. He has new aspirations that are difficult to attain. He must strive to become what he can become, even if he must be uncomfortable to do it. His new appetites now include a greater knowledge of God (Prov. 1:7), the desire to glorify Him by living a higher life (1 Pet. 1:15), a compassion for lost souls (Acts 8:4), a hope of the heavenly enterprise (1 Pet. 1:3ff), as well as a host of higher-than-here, other-worldly passions.

The Christian is to be dis-satisfied. He is to be discontented with the present state of affairs. The Christian will feel compelled to speak out against ungodliness and immorality as the occasion permits. He will feel the necessity to oppose evil in whatever form it comes and however subtle it may be. He will do his part to improve society, cultivate a higher, more God-fearing culture, make known a superior way. This whole matter involves not being conformed to this world, but being transformed to a higher consideration, so as to “prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God (Rom. 12:1-2). He will see himself as a stranger and a pilgrim (1 Pet.2:9), but one whose passing through has considerable effect on all with whom he has contact. He will recommend a higher thinking than the mundane intellectualism of his day (Col. 1:1-2). And he will desire a greater and higher end to all it all than do his fellows (Heb. 11:13-16).

May God bless us all in the new year with good health, opportunities to serve, a revitalized love for one another, and a greater zeal for His cause.

Copyright (C) 2002-2004 Southside Church of Christ
All rights reserved.