Contentment

by Max Lucado

Satisfied? That is one thing we are not. We are not satisfied. We push back from the Thanksgiving table and pat our round bellies. “I’m satisfied,” we declare. But look at us a few hours later, back in the kitchen picking the meat from the bone.

We wake up after a good night’s rest and hop out of bed. We couldn’t go back to sleep if someone paid us. We are satisfied – for a while. But look at us a dozen or so hours later, crawling back into the sheets.

We take a vacation of a lifetime. For years we planned. For years we saved. And off we go. We satiate ourselves with sun, fun, and good food. But we are not even on the way home before we dread the end of the trip and begin planning another.

We are not satisfied.

As a child we say, “if only I were a teenager.” As a teen we say, “If only I were an adult.” As an adult, “If only I were married.” As a spouse, “If only my kids were grown.” In an empty house, “If only the kids would visit.” As a retiree in the rocking chair with stiff joints and fading sight, “If only I were a child again.”

We are not satisfied. Contentment is a difficult virtue. Why?

Because there is nothing on earth that can satisfy our deepest longing. We long to see God. The leaves of life are rustling with the rumor that we will see him. And we won’t be satisfied until we do.

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Content in this article is taken from the Max Lucado Encouraging Word Study Bible.

Read along with celebrated, beloved preacher Max Lucado as he shows you beauty and hope in the Scriptures. Hear the stories and read the Bible with Max Lucado’s comforting and recognizable voice. The features in this study Bible help you to see that what happened on these pages is still happening today. The truths of old are still the truths of today.

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