Way back in the 1600’s the well-known Puritan preacher, Jeremiah Burroughs, wrote a classic book on Christian contentment called, The Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment. As I thought about this book title a quote by Brother Lawrence came to my mind that I think should cause all Christians to pause and realize how God, and not people, possessions, and pleasures, is what really brings us true contentment in life. Brother Lawerence shared this wonderful quote: “The most important discovery of my whole life is that one can take a little rough cabin and transform it into a palace just by flooding it with God.”1
My friends, Christian contentment is indeed a rare jewel that sadly many Christians fail to truly experience in life. And I believe, as Brother Lawerence shared, the main reason is we don’t flood our hearts and minds with Jesus, but with people and possessions. I love how Jeremiah Burroughs defines Christian contentment: “Christian contentment is that sweet, inward, quiet, gracious frame of spirit, which freely submits to and delights in God’s wise and fatherly disposal in every condition.”2
Contentment exists when our souls rest in Jesus and our desires and pleasures line up with those of our Savior. (Psalm 37:4) is a key verse in understanding how contentment can become a way of life for us. This amazing verse reads: “Delight yourself also in the Lord, and He shall give you the desires of your heart.” When we take delight in the Lord our desires and God’s desires merge and the result is we begin to hunger and thirst to spend more time in the presence of Jesus, to learn and obey His perfect will, and to experience the sheer joy of pleasing the Creator of the universe. And what can be more fulfilling in life than to experience the peace, joy, and meaning that accompanies pleasing Jesus.
You see we were created to have fellowship with God and because of sin the ultimate satisfaction that this fellowship brings is not possible until we accept Jesus into our hearts. When this happens, we get a new heart with the capacity to re-enter into this awesome fellowship with Jesus and the endless delights that this relationship allows us to experience. But even then we can still choose to settle for the worldly trinkets that never bring lasting contentment, but only passing pleasures. And once these pleasures are gone we are back to trying to find other means to satisfy our old flesh nature.
So, instead of settling for passing pleasures why not kindle your love affair with Jesus, by spending more time in His Word, praying throughout the day, and obeying His will. I guarantee you that practicing these Christian disciplines will change your entire way of living.
In closing I challenge you to memorize what I consider perhaps the key verse in all of Scripture that can bring you lasting contentment – (Psalm 16:11): “You will show me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy; At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.” Simply put knowing your path in life will bring you rich meaning. Spending time in the presence of Jesus will flood your soul with amazing joy. And knowing that you are lined up with God’s perfect will, in my opinion, is the most pleasurable blessing this side of eternity. Imagine, having rich meaning in life, unspeakable joy, and pleasures that are simply out of this world. I think that’s a pretty good definition of real contentment!
1 Inspirational Quotes by Brother Lawrence – page 2 (bibleportal.com)
2 Jeremiah Burroughs Quotes (Author of The Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment) (goodreads.com)