Choose Contentment in Jesus

I denied myself nothing my eyes desired; I refused my heart no pleasure. My heart took delight in all my labor, and this was the reward for all my toil. Yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done and what I had toiled to achieve, everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind; nothing was gained under the sun. (Ecclesiastes 2:10-11)

At his richest, John D. Rockefeller owned 90% of all of the oil and gas industry. He owned 1% of the wealth in the entire United States. He was the richest of the rich and, adjusted for inflation, his wealth far surpassed guys like Bezos and Buffett today.

You may have heard the old story, which many people say is true and others say is fiction. During an interview with a reporter Rockefeller was once asked a very simple question:  “How much is enough?”

His reply was equally as simple, “Just a little bit more.”

The richest man on the planet still wanted more. Let’s stop for a moment and reflect on what this means. What do you want in life? 

If you are like me, you want to be financially “comfortable.”

If you are like me, you want your kids to succeed.

If you are like me, you want people to admire you, to think you “have it all together.”

And when we finally achieve these goals, what do we want? We want more, and more...and more.

In Og Mandino’s book, The Choice, he rightly proclaims that nothing on earth can satisfy us. Some people head home to be happy, while others flee home to be happy. Some get married to be happy, while others get divorced to be happy. Some people travel to be happy, while some work harder to be happy. We search endlessly. We waste our years looking for happiness, when in reality, true contentment is already ours. We are rich already when we find our contentment in Jesus.

Few things are necessary to make a man happy, but no amount of wealth can satisfy a fool.

C.S. Lewis concluded, “If we find ourselves with a desire that nothing in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that we were made for another world.”

You are made for another world. Let’s help one other to stop searching for contentment in this world.  True contentment comes from Jesus and from Him alone.

Jesus, help me to find contentment only in You. You have already given me everything I need. Help me to receive it.