Contentment

Tom Shrader draws from 1 Timothy 6, Philippians 4, and Matthew 6 to argue that contentment is not a natural disposition but a learned discipline, rooted in godliness and trust in God. He broadens the topic beyond finances to include contentment with one's marital status, spouse, children, and health, emphasizing that what a person invests time, energy, and money in reveals where their heart truly lies. Using Randy Alcorn and John Piper, he challenges listeners to close the gap between how they live now and how they will wish they had lived five minutes after death.

“Godliness is actually a means of great gain when it's accompanied by contentment — godliness plus contentment equals great gain.”

— Tom Shrader

Series: The Sermon on the Mount

Recorded: 2005 at East Valley Bible Church

Duration: 47 min

Themes: contentment, money, trust, gratitude, worry, simplicity, generosity, priorities, struggling with discontentment, facing financial stress, single mother, married couple, parent, grieving loss, wrestling with materialism, mid-life reflection

Scripture: 1 Timothy 6:6-19, Philippians 4:6-13, Matthew 6:19-24, James 1:22, James 2:14, Luke (ship sinking reference), Matthew 7:1

Theological Themes: godliness, sanctification, stewardship, eternal perspective, the love of money, spiritual discipline, lordship of christ, treasure in heaven

Full Transcript

Introduction

Turn, please, to 1 Timothy 6. We are going to make a brief stop in Philippians chapter 4, and then close our time together in Matthew chapter 6. This is really the culmination of these last three weeks, which have been an interesting three weeks. There has never been a time I can remember when I received more email than I did last week — and not one of those emails was even slightly negative. All of them were positive. So if I had any brains, I would quit right now, because it is never going to get any better than this moment. But there was just a tremendous amount of response, and it confirms what I instinctively feel and know to be true: this material is so important. This is where we live.

Honoring Mothers

In a moment, I want us to go to this section of Scripture, but first I want to continue what has become a tradition on Mother's Day. I want to ask those of you who are mothers or grandmothers — and those of you who have perhaps lost children, you still fit in this category — to stand so that we can pray for you and acknowledge and honor you.

Every year I try to emphasize a particular group just a bit. I have learned that parenting is really difficult. Sometimes it seems like things are moving along well, but we are all vulnerable to anything that goes a little sideways, and we can start to question what we are doing and how difficult it all is. In those moments, how comforting it is to be able to sit down with your husband and talk it through together. But there is a group here tonight who cannot do that — single moms — and that is a particularly tough road.

I want to honor all of you who are standing, but I especially want to honor those of you who are single moms, who carry such a difficult responsibility. You live in a time and a culture that, in many ways, minimizes your contribution. I hope that from this pulpit and through everything we do here, we have tried to esteem the role of motherhood, to affirm you in that role, and to let you know that you are in a place that loves who you are and what you do. Allow us the privilege of praying for you.

Father, thank You for these ladies. Thank You for their commitment to You. Thank You for the privilege of stewarding the magnificent treasures that You have given them — these children. We know they will not always get it right, and there will be times when they feel a little beaten up and perhaps even wonder if it is worth it. God, let them know that it is worth it — let them know through what we say, how we say it, and what we do as we esteem them. Thank You for these ladies. They truly are on the front lines. We pray that You would strengthen them, and allow them to see just a bit of the fruit of their labor, to remind them that though their duty is difficult and challenging, it is a duty, a privilege, and a service that is so valuable and so worthwhile. Let them feel that. Let them sense it from us. We pray this in Christ's name, amen.

Email from the Congregation

I mentioned receiving a great deal of email this week, and I want to use some of it to illustrate points and guide us through this lesson. I have probably six or seven emails here, and this first one makes a great introduction.

The writer says, "Today was our first time at your church" — so that would be last Sunday. "My husband and I did exactly what you said — we moved to a place before searching the area for a good church. Now we know better. I met someone in the Blood Mobile who moved here two months ago because of your church, and we are starting to see people relocating to the East Valley to be part of this, and that is so encouraging."

Then comes the last paragraph: "Thanks for letting me share these thoughts. I have one more thought — I hope it does not insult you. The congregation laughed a number of times when you were speaking. The first couple of times, I did not understand why. I do not think that you are particularly funny. But then I thought, well, maybe it is a cultural thing, since I am not from the West. Then I realized it is neither. You just must be very well loved by your people." That made me cry when I read it. I thought it was so wonderful.

Doctrine as a Means of Transformation

We study a lot of doctrine here, and hopefully from this pulpit. I know some of you would want it to go longer, wider, and deeper, while others of you feel it is already over your heads — but doctrine is a central part of what we do at East Valley Bible Church. It is what we do in the pulpit, and it is what we do in the classes. There are several men in this room who have spent years in that pursuit. Michael, for one, will graduate this Friday night from the training center as part of the very first class, and we are so proud of Michael and the other men graduating on Friday night.

We study doctrine, however, not as an end in itself, but as a means to see our lives transformed. The very first small group study I was part of, we studied the book of James. We were brand-new believers, and we were in over our heads. For me, when I first heard that I am saved by grace through faith and that it had nothing to do with works, that was the greatest news I had ever heard. And then I got into James, and he seemed to be saying something a little different. In James chapter 2, verse 14: "What use is it of saying that you have faith if you can't prove it by your actions?"

Contentment and the Call to Action

That kind of faith cannot save anyone. I remember being in the midst of this, and we were all confused. We had James saying, in the book of James, "Was not Abraham justified by his works?" and Paul saying, "Here is Abraham justified by his faith," and we thought we had found a contradiction. I remember calling Larry Wright, putting him on speakerphone, and saying, "Larry, we've got this issue, and it seems like we've discovered a contradiction here," and he said, "Boy, that's a big one. You'll have to figure it out." Then he hung up. That's how he trained us. So we spent a lot of time trying to sort this out.

What James is writing is a book that we need desperately. James chapter 1, verse 22: "Prove yourselves to be doers of the Word, not merely hearers who delude themselves." One of the paraphrases puts it this way: "Don't fool yourself into thinking that you are a listener when you are anything but, letting the Word go in one ear and out the other. Act on what you hear." That is exactly what we are saying.

We are saying doctrine is really important. That is what this church is all about — to glorify God by helping one another learn God's truths and live biblically changed lives. What happens to us is we read this Word, and all of a sudden our thinking begins to change. And once our thinking begins to change, our actions begin to change. Present your bodies as a living sacrifice; do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed — how? By the renewing of your mind.

A Testimony of Transformation

I received another email this week. The writer said, "I have been attending East Valley Bible Church since Easter of this year. I am one who recently accepted Christ as my Lord. I now know what the term 'born again' truly feels like." He is saying there is a change, and then he outlines that change. "My life since I accepted Christ has been unexplainable. I'm thinking more clearly, making better decisions, enjoying my marriage more, feeling better about life in general. My wife and I are somewhat new to the state, and we believe that we have found a home at East Valley Bible Church. If we can help you in any way, let us know. We're a young couple who've just celebrated our one-year anniversary, and we are eager to help in the Christian community."

That is a magnificent email, and it illustrates exactly what we are talking about. We have been converted; our life has changed. Once we hear the Word, it cannot remain idle discussion — it has to transform how we live. It changes our thinking. It changes the way we live.

Staying on This Subject

My intention is to spend just one more week on this. There is a temptation to go a couple of weeks more, but next week I am going to reference some things we have talked about in the past and encourage you to go back and revisit some of those messages. I also received a message from a man involved in financial planning who had all sorts of great, positive recommendations. His third point was this: "I want to encourage you to camp on this subject matter as long as it takes to thoroughly expound these truths about money from the Scripture. From my vantage point and area of giftedness, there is a dire need to equip the saints in this area."

That is what I want to do. I know this is a tough subject, and I know that what we are talking about rings true with the vast majority of you. That does not mean it is simple. It does not mean it is easy. It does not mean that now that you understand it, everything is going to change. In fact, there will be struggle, and I want to encourage you in that struggle, because it is an important one.

Godliness and Contentment

You need to get this issue settled. The reason you need to get it settled is right there in front of you in 1 Timothy chapter 6, verse 6: "Godliness is actually a means of great gain when it is accompanied by contentment." Godliness plus contentment equals great gain. Said another way, if I am godly, I will be content — the two go hand in glove. If I am truly content, I will be godly. If I am really godly, I will be content. There will be a sense of satisfaction.

Now here is what I want you to see: this does not come naturally. You do not arrive at contentment in a natural fashion.

Paul's Secret in Philippians 4

Turn to Philippians chapter 4. Remember I said we would look at this passage. As you turn there, let me remind you that Paul is in prison when he writes this, which I think adds even more credibility to his words. Verse 6: "Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."

Do you see how that dovetails into what we have been talking about? Remember what we covered in Matthew chapter 6 — verse 25, verse 31, verse 34: do not be anxious. It all comes together. Do not be anxious about anything. Pray about everything. Paul says, "I rejoice." And again, let me remind you — he is in prison, in awful circumstances. He says, "I rejoice." How? Verse 10: "In the Lord." This is not about a happiness that has some circumstantial element to it. This is about a joy rooted in relational truth — that he has an intimate relationship with the creator God of the universe.

So verse 11 speaks directly to us: "Not that I speak from want." Paul says he has a great deal of hardship around him, but that is not what is motivating his words. "For I have learned" — and if you are someone who marks and underlines your Bible, mark this —

Learning Contentment

Please underline or circle that phrase: "For I have learned to be content." I have learned it. "Whatever circumstance I'm in, I know how to get along in humble means. I know how to live in prosperity in any and every circumstance." And then here it is, verse 12 — the same phrase: "I have learned the secret. The secret of being filled and going hungry, of having abundance and of suffering need." Verse 13 — and you've seen and heard this verse taken out of context — "I can do all things through Him who strengthens me." It has become the equivalent of "I can leap tall buildings in a single bound" and all that goes with it. That is not what it says.

Paul is saying he has learned to live this way — learned to live with a lot, learned to live with a little. That word "learned" is what I want to focus on. It doesn't come naturally. Naturally, I am not going to be content. Naturally, I am always going to want something else, something different, something more — or maybe even something less, perhaps riddled with guilt about what I have. In any case, that contentment is not naturally present in my life.

Paul says, "I have learned to be content." And I am telling you, from my experience and from the Word — this is what I know to be true. The missing ingredient in most Christians' lives, the thing that I believe is at the root cause of stopping them from growing deep and close and being totally immersed in the things of God, is this issue of contentment. Because we want a little bit more, a little something different, and then we begin to pursue it, and that pursuit takes our time, our energy, our effort, our money, and moves us in a new direction.

What We're Seeing in the Giving

I don't know if you looked at the bulletin, but on the inside section is the area of budget and attendance. You may have noticed that the giving last week was $136,000. I haven't been talking to you about giving specifically — I've been talking about contentment, reallocating resources, and generosity. We need about $88,000 a week, and the giving had been holding around there, but all of a sudden over the last three or four weeks it came in at $105,000, then $110,000, then $115,000, and now $136,000.

I received a great email this week about the building. The person said: "I've got some good news and some bad news. The good news is we have all the money we need to build the building in cash. The bad news is it's still in the people's pockets." I thought that was an interesting way of putting it. We have plenty, and I don't think it's even a sinister thing. I just think people get so busy that it takes someone reminding them.

We see this every time we talk about money in relation to Scripture — people begin to examine their lives and make some radical changes. I asked Neil whether there had been some large single check, and he said no, no big checks. It's just people slugging it out. My call to you is this: you have momentarily seen something clearly — don't drift back. Naturally, that drifting will happen. Naturally, you'll start to see things and get distracted. Don't do that. Be content.

Contentment Is Not Apathy

Coming back to 1 Timothy 6 — godliness plus contentment equals great gain. We came into the world with nothing. We are leaving the world with nothing. "If we have food and clothing, with those we should be content." Now this is a tough issue in a whole range of ways.

One of the emails I received this week asked a pointed question: what does the desire for bettering yourself have to do with contentment? In other words, are we advocating apathy? No. Apathy means having or showing little or no feeling or emotion — indifference. That is not what we are talking about. Contentment means to appease the desires, to limit oneself to what one truly needs, a feeling of satisfaction with one's possessions, status, and situation in life. These are very different things.

Contentment and the Tension It Creates

This is tough, and it is tough because I cannot give you a formula — this much you can spend here, this much you should allocate there. I have learned over the years that even within the body of Christ, this issue produces a certain level of tension in relationships. The tendency is to look at your own life, make very difficult decisions about how to live given your income, and then meet other godly people, church people, with a similar income who are living at a very different lifestyle. And immediately you get exercised about it — what's wrong with them, how can they do that?

Here is a big tip, and it is genuinely helpful: God is not going to judge you by how others have handled their lives. He is going to judge you by how you have handled yours. There is a great tendency to look at others and try to figure them out. But this is between you and God. If you are married, it is between the two of you and God.

I have rarely met couples who agree on lifestyle issues — there always seems to be some level of disagreement. One of the darker moments in my relationship with Susan was when I came home and said, "Baby, we're going on a spending plan" — which is a euphemism for a budget. She said, "I don't know about this." And the reason is she knows from experience what tends to happen. When you put a spending plan in place, there are very different ways men and women tend to go off course — men tend to blow it with a boat, women tend to blow it with smaller, repeated purchases. We want different things, and that creates real friction.

Contentment Beyond Finances

When we talk about contentment, we end up talking about money, and that is really important. But I want to go further. Contentment touches every area of life, not just our finances.

Before I move on, let me address something from this past week. I received an email that said, "Thanks for coming out so strongly on this contentious issue." The writer mentioned that they had counseled friends who decided to downsize and then had a change of feeling, and that they had suffered some degree of loss over the past five years for speaking their mind in love. The last phrase is what struck me most: "Knowing friends don't want to hear it, despite previously agreeing on mutual accountability."

You can sit around in a small group and have a whole discussion where someone says, "This is what I think we ought to do — and if I'm out of line, you tell me." Not many people can actually handle it when you do. But you need to speak truth, and you need to do it in love. One of the things that has really frustrated me is watching someone make a decision that is clearly not right, and then seeing it justified by saying, "I talked to these other godly people and they said it was okay."

Whether you can afford something is not the determining factor on whether you should get it. Just because God has blessed you with a certain level of income does not mean you are required to have an equal lifestyle. God has given you resources, and I can think of three reasons why: first, to meet your needs — food, clothing, shelter, all of that; second, to enjoy them, because there is nothing wrong with enjoying God's blessings, taking the vacation, doing the things He has provided; and third, to give — to fund God's kingdom. There is real tension between those three, and that is something you have to work out.

We have churned up a great deal of dust over the last three weeks, and there are a lot of conversations happening. One of my sons-in-law went to pick up food from a restaurant after last Sunday evening's service, and he said there were three men in there who had just come from church, all explaining to one another why they had bought the house in the location they chose. They did not know who he was. They were just in there justifying it all to each other. You do not need to justify your decisions to each other. It is not about justifying anything — it is about being faithful to what God has given you: your time, energy, effort, money, and resources. I commend you in the struggle. I know it well. I fought that battle myself and still encounter brush fires with it from time to time. So battle it out.

Contentment with Your Marital Status

Be content with the marital status God has given you. I know a great many singles who long to be married — it seems to be one of the most common things I encounter in private living studies and around the church. Let me encourage you: God has you exactly where He has you, and you need to be content in that marital status.

There is a woman who comes to one of the private living studies who is my age and currently single, and she has a wonderful saying. When the conversation turns to single women and marriage, she says this: "It takes a very, very, very good man to beat no man at all."

For those who are married, contentment means being content with the spouse God has given you. I encounter this all the time — husbands and wives who are unhappy with their spouse. I have sat with men who describe their wives in unflattering terms, and I will say to them: I would not have chosen her either. But you did. You picked her. That was your choice.

Contentment with Your Spouse

Let me speak to wives first, and then to husbands. What I see so frequently are wives who verbally diminish their husbands, and it usually happens on a material basis. It sounds like this: "Look at us — we don't have this. Look at what they have. Look at that job." Or a husband comes home from an important meeting and instead of encouragement, he is interrogated: "What did you say? Why didn't you say this instead?" That tears a man down.

Husbands, on the other hand, tend to undermine their wives on a physical basis, especially as their wives age. I was watching something on television recently — I know there was a ball involved, so it was some kind of sport — when a commercial came on. Thirty seconds in, I had no idea what they were selling. All I knew was there were girls on a beach, then some guys, and ultimately it was a beer. If you are a man watching a 22-year-old woman who has had fifty thousand dollars' worth of surgery, and you are trying to figure out how your 45- or 55-year-old wife is supposed to compete with that physically, she cannot. It is impossible. Be content with the wife you have.

I will tell you this, and I have had men laugh at me for it, but I believe it is absolutely true: if you want to be married to a ten, then honor and cherish your wife, call her a ten, and you are married to one tonight. That is the absolute truth.

Contentment in Relationships and Family

There is a discontent in a relationship that leaves you always looking and always vulnerable. I have breakfast just about every Friday morning with Jerry Smith, and we have done it for almost fifteen years. A couple of years ago, he said to me, "I've never heard you say one critical thing about Susan." We have had lots of conversations, formal ones and informal ones, and we can get down and discuss things pretty hard, pretty hot, pretty heavy. It was the greatest thing anyone has ever said to me, and I would not have it any other way.

Let me expand this to being content with the kids God has given you. When the girls were in cheer, I went to all sorts of events — football games, basketball games, track meets, swim meets, golf meets. I would hear primarily dads beat up their kids in one of two ways. They would either say, "You're lousy, you stink, I don't know why you can't do that," or they would come back and say, "Boy, that Billy on your team is incredible — Billy can really jump and shoot, he's a Heisman guy."

Let me tell you the greatest challenge your children face as they come into this world: they come from your gene pool. They can't run because you couldn't run. They can't shoot because you couldn't shoot. Being content with your children requires understanding that reality.

An Email on Fearing for Your Children

On this topic of contentment with our children, I received an email that speaks to it directly. The writer said the stuff is just stuff, and if they lost the stuff, oh well. But their children — that is a much deeper issue. They worry first for their children's salvation and second for their physical safety.

The writer went on to say they tell themselves they can trust God, and that, as I have said, nothing will happen that God does not cause or allow. But they also know that sometimes God allows horrible things to happen to people's kids, and He does not choose all children for salvation. That is what they are fearful of. And I understand that fear completely.

We can take the answer to that concern and expand it to all things. The answer is even embedded in the question itself — it is about taking the things that you know and saying, "This is what I know. However, this is what I feel, and what I know trumps what I feel." Whether it concerns your children, your health, or anything else, that principle holds.

What You Know Trumps What You Feel

Susan was here at the last hour, so I moved gingerly around this topic, but we have been dealing with her health issue, and it feels like it has been a long time, yet it has only been four, five, maybe six months. There are moments — and a majority of them — where she is moving along pretty well, and then all of a sudden you are dealing with life and you say, "I am in a spot here that is genuinely difficult." This is a particular challenge at our house right now, because every discussion we have seems to be about baby names. No announcements yet — just baby names.

So we are at a time where you have, to me, a classic mother who has poured her life into her children. I sent her a little email this morning and said that Mother's Day is always a hard one for me because she is not my mother, and I never quite understand why I am getting her something. But I do know this: when it comes to mothering, she has modeled to her daughter, and to anyone else watching, what it means to be a mom. She is at that point in life where grandbabies and all of that are potentially on the horizon.

And then we go to a meeting — we have two meetings tomorrow — and we meet a new doctor tomorrow. And you hear news that is not all that encouraging. Where is God in all that? Going down that trail very far is really a waste of time, because God is right where He has always been: on the throne. Whether it is you worrying about your kids, or us worrying about our health, or you put anything else in that space — I even wrote down being content with the height God has given you — the point is the same. You get the message.

I come back to this over and over again. All through the situation with Susan, I keep returning to something I have taught for years: what you know trumps what you feel. It has been interesting — I keep catching Susan listening to my old tapes. I am not even in her top ten favorite Bible teachers, not anywhere close. But she has been pulling out messages and series, including one I did called *Living to Win* — winning over guilt, winning over stress, winning over uncertainty, winning over anxiety. What is powerful is simply being reminded of what God's Word and God's truth actually say.

We don't know what the future holds, but we know what holds the future. Sayings like that are not just clever phrases or bumper stickers. They are the truth.

A Holy Discontent

Having talked about contentment, there is another side I want to encourage you toward — a place where it is right to be discontent. It is on a spiritual plane, in my relationship with Him. The more I know my God, the more I love Him, and the more I love Him, the more I want to know Him, and the more I know Him, the more I love Him.

At the end of his classic work *The Pursuit of God*, A.W. Tozer closes the first chapter with a prayer. Let me read it to you, because it could perhaps be a prayer of ours here tonight:

*"Oh God, I have tasted Thy goodness and it has both satisfied me and made me thirsty for more and painfully conscious of my need for further grace. I am ashamed of my lack of desire."*

Introduction: The Prayer of Holy Longing

"Oh God, the triune God, I love this prayer. I want to want Thee. I long to be filled with longing. I thirst to be made more thirsty still. Show me Thy glory, I pray Thee, that so I may know Thee indeed. Begin in mercy a new work of love within me. Say to my soul, rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away. Then give me grace to rise and follow Thee from the misty lowlands where I have wandered so long. In Jesus' name, amen."

What a prayer. I want to want Thee. I long to be filled with longing. I thirst to be made thirsty. There is that dissatisfaction, that sense in which contentment on the material plane requires us to deliberately resist its pull.

Putting a Lid on Your Dreams

Early on, one of the very first times I went out to do a men's retreat, one of the first talks I put together was titled "Put a Lid on Your Dreams." It almost seems un-American. But the idea was to say: we have to reach a point where enough is enough, a point where we say that's the limit. The only way to reach that point is to define that point, and then, when we get there, leave it there.

I've tried to say to people: if you take a 30-year mortgage, that's fine. But if you pay it down for 10 years, you have a 20-year mortgage left, and when you move, don't go back to 30. And if you've been in the next house for five years with that 20-year mortgage, and now you have 15 years left and it's time to move again, don't extend that mortgage beyond the 15 years. That, to me, is a picture of contentment.

The Danger of Wanting to Get Rich

Watch out. First Timothy 6, verse 10 tells us the love of money is the root of all sorts of evil. Verse 9 tells us that those who want to get rich fall into a temptation and a snare and many foolish and harmful desires, which plunge men into ruin. The word "plunge" appears only one other time in the New Testament. Luke uses it to describe a ship sinking to the bottom of the sea.

Instructions for Those Who Are Rich

Now verse 17: "Instruct those who are rich." The problem with that term is we have a tendency to define it as anyone who has more than us, so the term never applies to us. By a world standard, we are in the top two to three percent in terms of material wealth. So I might take a little liberty here and read it this way: instruct those of us who are rich in this present world not to be conceited — not to say, look how smart I am, look at what I did, look at my hard work — or to fix our hope on the uncertainty of riches. Riches are a greased pig. Instead, we are to fix our hope on God, who richly supplies us with all things to enjoy.

We are instructed to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous — to do what is inherently, intrinsically, qualitatively good. We are to be ready to share, storing up for ourselves treasures. Stop right there.

Laying Up Treasure in Heaven: Matthew 6

That should sound very familiar. Back to Matthew chapter 6, verses 19 through 24. Notice that when He speaks to those who are rich, He does not say give up the riches or stop being rich. He puts them in perspective: "Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven."

Why not lay up treasures on earth? Because they are temporary. The moth, the rust, and the thieves will get them. Why lay up treasures in heaven? Because it is permanent.

If I go to my financial advisor, he will ask what kind of return I am looking for and what my risk threshold is. My answer is always that I want a hugely high yield with no risk. Jesus comes along and says, "I will give you a great investment opportunity — one that pays eternal dividends at zero risk. Lay up treasure in heaven."

The Owner's Investment Goals

What does it mean to lay up treasure in heaven? It means to invest my resources in God's kingdom, with God's agenda. And this is a far larger topic than money alone. It includes my time, my energy, my efforts, and my money. If by definition I am not the owner — if God is the owner and I am a steward with a fiduciary relationship to this commodity of time, energy, effort, and money — then what I need to understand is not my investment goals, but the owner's. Where would God have me spend my time, my energy, my effort, and my money?

Matthew 6:21 tells us: wherever my treasure is, that is an indication of where my heart is.

Your Treasure Reveals Your Heart

Consider a husband and wife who are not getting along. The wife says she does not think he loves her. The husband insists he tells her all the time that he loves her. And she responds: he tells me he loves me, but he does not show me. We have the proper instinct that what I say must be backed up by what I do. Here is the great illustration: "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son." Wherever your treasure is, there your heart is also.

So if you say that A, B, and C are important to you, but all your time, energy, effort, and money are invested in X, Y, and Z, then you are either deceived, or confused, or not being truthful with yourself. What is truly important to you will be the recipient of your time, energy, effort, and money. As Martin Luther writes: what a man loves, that is his God, for he carries

Everything Is Passing Away

All this stuff is passing away. In his book on eternity, Randy Alcorn provides this magnificent illustration. Take a ride a few miles ahead. You turn off the road and pass through a gate, falling in line behind some pickup trucks. The vehicles ahead are filled with computers and stereo systems and furniture and appliances and fishing gear and toys.

Higher and higher you climb until you reach a parking lot. There the drivers unload their cargo. Curious, you watch a man hoist a computer, stagger to the corner of the lot, and hurl it over the edge. You scramble out of the car and peer over the precipice, and at the bottom of the cliff is a giant pit filled with stuff.

Finally you realize this is a landfill, a junkyard, the final resting place for the things in our lives. Sooner or later, everything we own ends up here. Christmas and birthday presents, cars, boats, and hot tubs, clothes, stereos, and barbecues. The treasures that children quarrel about, friendships were lost over, honesty was sacrificed for, and marriages broke up over all end up here. Alcorn adds parenthetically: he recommends taking a family trip to a junkyard, because it is a powerful object lesson.

Nobody is going to sit and argue about this. Everybody understands that these things are true. And yet there is a battle there, and there is a tension there.

The Motivation to Make Difficult Decisions

What is needed is the motivation to make those difficult decisions. That motivation comes in two ways. Number one is what we have already looked at — understanding that we came into the world with nothing and we are leaving with nothing. The other is to have something to live for that is bigger than ourselves.

Looking back across the generations, and even talking to high school students today, the picture is not one of empty, disillusioned kids who do not care. These are young people who want to make a difference and want to find something truly significant. That is very hard to do in light of an entire education system that says this whole world is an accident and things just sort of happened.

Don't Waste Your Life

John Piper wrote a book with a title worth sitting with: *Don't Waste Your Life*. He talks about that question resonating in his mind, about the house he lived in for twelve years, with a little plaque in the kitchen bearing the phrase: *Only one life will soon pass; only what's done for Christ will last.*

In that book he writes these words: "The message was clear. You get one pass at life. That's all. Only one. And the lasting measure of that life is Jesus Christ. I'm 57, as I write, and that very plaque hangs today on the wall by our front door. I see it every time I leave home. What would it mean to waste my life? That's a burning question. Or stated more positively, what would it mean to live well?" That question — what would it mean to not waste your life — is one that demands serious contemplation.

What is the passion in your life? What is the thing that lights you up? What is it in God's kingdom, in God's agenda, that He seems to have created you for — for this time, this setting, this moment? What is it that you would attempt for God if you knew you could not fail? When you begin to answer those questions, you begin to find the motive that allows you to say: this is enough. This is excess. Why not take what is extra and invest it in God's kingdom rather than your own?

Five Minutes After We Die

Randy Alcorn also writes this: "Five minutes after we die, we'll know exactly how we should have lived. But God has given us His Word so we don't have to wait until we die to find out. He's given us His Spirit to empower us to live that way now. Ask yourself, five minutes after I die, what will I wish I would have given away while I still had the chance? When you come up with an answer, why not give it away now? Why not spend the rest of your life closing the gap between what we wish we'd given away and what we're really giving?"

And this is not meant to be limited to money and material things. It extends to time, energy, and effort as well. It is a genuinely difficult challenge.

Settling the Issue Together

Do not grow weary of struggling to settle this issue. If you are here tonight as a couple, work it out together. Figure out how much is enough. Agree on it. Decide together: when we get to this point, that is it. There are things we are going to do without. There are choices we are not going to make.

Many decisions have been made along those lines, and while some of them have been painful, they have ultimately been a great source of freedom. And that freedom has made it possible to engage in the things that God brought into our lives.

Next Week and Closing Prayer

Next week we will look at a verse that even someone who has never opened a Bible likely knows — Matthew chapter 7, verse 1: *"Judge not, lest you be judged."* What is Jesus really saying there? That is what we will explore next week.

Father, help us see this truth. Thank You for Your Son, Jesus — for His life and His death. God, in this world we acknowledge there are all sorts of competing forces. Do not let us be pulled away from the things that are truly important. Thank You for these people who are here.

A Closing Prayer and Challenge

Let us honestly wrestle with this. It is so important. Let us be individuals, let us be families, let us be a church known as a place where people are building up treasures in heaven, not on earth. Father, we ask You to do that in our lives. We pray this to You in Jesus' name, amen.