It's All Good!
Today’s Verse:
“And thou shalt rejoice in every good thing which the Lord thy God hath given unto thee, and unto thine house, thou, and the Levite, and the stranger that is among you.” ~Deuteronomy 26:11
The Book of Deuteronomy is a book of God’s instructions and Moses’ sermons to prepare Israel for their entry into the land of promise. It contains the Lord’s directives regarding blessings and cursings. The Israelites were constant complainers. Throughout their wilderness journey, they murmured and complained about God’s goodness in their lives. The good things were viewed as evil. The blessings were viewed as not enough. As we consider our passage this morning, Moses is telling them in effect, “It’s all good!”
We see the MEANING in contentment.
The story is told about a pilot who always looked down intently on a certain valley in the Appalachians when the plane passed overhead. One day his co-pilot asked, “What’s so interesting about that spot?” The pilot replied, “See that stream? Well, when I was a kid I used to sit down there on a log and fish. Every time an airplane flew over, I would look up and wish I were flying… Now I look down and wish I was fishing.” Contentment is being satisfied with what you have and where you are at any given moment. The society we live in makes a heavy emphasis on marketing to our covetous desires. We are bombarded with the thought that something we have is not good enough, we need something that is faster, something that is more up to date, or something that makes us appear trendy. Paul defined contentment as, “Whatsoever state I am in, therewith to be content.”
We see the MEDITATION in contentment.
In order to be a contented individual, we must meditate and think about our blessings. Moses told Israel, “And thou shalt rejoice in every good thing which the Lord thy God hath given unto thee, and unto thine house.” We live by lists of things to do, things to buy, and things we want to accomplish. We need to establish an ongoing list of every good thing with which the Lord has blessed us. Recently, someone came to see me about a burdensome trial they are going through, and asked me why God is allowing this trial to occur. My first question I asked was, “Have you counted it all joy that you have fallen into this trial?” We will never discover how we can benefit from our trials until we learn to rejoice in them. Starting today, develop a list of everything you are thankful for. Rejoice in every good thing which the Lord thy God hath given thee!
We see the MAXIMIZATION of contentment.
Notice we are to rejoice in every good thing which the Lord has given us. The maximization in contentment is being completely impartial and unbiased in our rejoicing and thankfulness. “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.” We are too partial about being contented with the things that we enjoy, and we downgrade the things we do not enjoy. Contentment is maximized when we rejoice in every good thing. Don’t cherry-pick what you are thankful for. Be thankful and rejoice in every good thing. You will never be happier and more content than when you arrive at the place of just rejoicing in every good thing the Lord has given you.
Take inventory of what the Lord has given you. Worship the Lord and rejoice in Him for all His goodness to and through you. Come to the place in life where you can say, “It’s all good!”
Have a contented God Morning!