Good morning. You may have heard the old axiom, “There will be no Uhauls going into heaven.” The scripture behind this thought comes from 1 Timothy 6:7 For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it.
When we come to the Lord on that great day, we are what we are, no more and no less. But wait, as Christian people we also know that when we say “we are what we are” that is true of that moment, but it is not true of who and what we have been. This is because when that moment comes, and we come to the Lord at the end of these days, we are what we are, but what we are is not what we have been, but what Jesus has caused us to become. We who were once stained by sin and repugnant to God are now washed in His blood and “He who knew no sin has become sin for us, so that we become the righteousness of God.” 2 Corinthians 5:21
But what about today? Is the secret of greater joy today to have our storage places filled with more stuff than we have places to keep it? Of course not. The secret to joy today is not having more but in finding contentment in what we have.
I would like to join that verse from 1 Timothy 6:7 with the 6th verse: But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it.
When we surrender to God the cumbersome burden of discontent (which is that emotion that claims us when we lust for more and more) we aren’t giving anything up, we are preparing ourselves to receive. That backpack of discontent increasingly becomes more difficult to manage. God replaces it with a light weight, tailor made, sorrow proof, blessing called gratitude. As we receive that new spirit of gratitude, we gain much.
What might you possibly gain with this new spirit of gratitude? Perhaps you gain your marriage. Perhaps you gain the relationship with your kids you’ve always hoped for. Perhaps you gain with the medical report that is better than it has been because the destruction of stress is gone. Perhaps you gain the righteous relationship with God that you know your spirit craves.
Godliness with contentment is great gain.