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Learn to be content (2)
'I have learned the secret of being content...' Philippians 4:12
Michael Drosnin wrote a book about a man who wanted more. More wealth, so he built a huge financial empire. More pleasure, so he paid for the best women money could buy. More adventure, so he set air speed records, built and piloted the world's most unique aircraft. More power, so he got political clout that was the envy of senators. More glamour, so he owned film studios and hung out with stars.
Drosnin tells how this man's life ended: 'He was a figure of ... power, ready for the grave. Emaciated ... thin scraggly beard ... sunken chest, hideously long fingernails in grotesque yellow corkscrews ... Many of his teeth were black, rotting stumps. A tumour was beginning to emerge from the side of his head...there were innumerable needle marks. Howard Hughes was an addict. A billionaire junkie.' All that, and he still wasn't content.
So here's the question: If he'd pulled off another deal, made another million and tasted another thrill, would it have been enough? No. We think we'll be more grateful if we get more, but it's not always the case.
The same man who wrote, 'I have learned the secret of being content' also wrote, 'In everything give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you' (1 Thessalonians 5:18 NKJV). You cannot make yourself a more grateful or content person, but you can pray for it and open your heart to what God will do.
written by Bob Gass
'I have learned the secret of being content...' Philippians 4:12
Michael Drosnin wrote a book about a man who wanted more. More wealth, so he built a huge financial empire. More pleasure, so he paid for the best women money could buy. More adventure, so he set air speed records, built and piloted the world's most unique aircraft. More power, so he got political clout that was the envy of senators. More glamour, so he owned film studios and hung out with stars.
Drosnin tells how this man's life ended: 'He was a figure of ... power, ready for the grave. Emaciated ... thin scraggly beard ... sunken chest, hideously long fingernails in grotesque yellow corkscrews ... Many of his teeth were black, rotting stumps. A tumour was beginning to emerge from the side of his head...there were innumerable needle marks. Howard Hughes was an addict. A billionaire junkie.' All that, and he still wasn't content.
So here's the question: If he'd pulled off another deal, made another million and tasted another thrill, would it have been enough? No. We think we'll be more grateful if we get more, but it's not always the case.
The same man who wrote, 'I have learned the secret of being content' also wrote, 'In everything give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you' (1 Thessalonians 5:18 NKJV). You cannot make yourself a more grateful or content person, but you can pray for it and open your heart to what God will do.
written by Bob Gass
