By retired Senator and attorney John Grant

Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart. Psalm 37:4

We live in a culture that is never satisfied and always desires more: More money. More clothing. More toys. More square feet. More followers. More power. More wealth. More prestige. More reputation. More sex. More. More. More.

In fact, in many ways, the pursuit of more defines our entire society. But there is a problem with the lifestyle choice of desiring more. When we constantly desire more, we are never satisfied. Because no matter how much we accumulate or achieve, more always exists. By definition, it is unquenchable.

No matter how much money is in your bank account… there can always be more. No matter how big your house… there can always be more. No matter how many likes on your Instagram post or views on your Tik-Tok video… there can always be more.

When more is the goal, we never fully arrive. It is insatiable. And that is the problem with always wanting more. Happiness and contentment will always elude us if we are looking for it in the acquisition of more.

I suppose, if it was commonplace to see an end to this pursuit, that would be a different story. If human beings eventually arrived at a level of more, and suddenly became content, we could all strive to reach that magical level. But that is not the example surrounding us. Quite the opposite in fact. Most everybody who acquires more, only continues to pursue it.

We see it in the lives of individuals who amass great fortunes but are not satisfied. We see it in the world’s largest corporations who continue to pursue greater and greater market share and profits. We see it in those who acquire power and then work relentlessly to keep it and expand upon it.

In the early 1900’s, John D. Rockefeller was the richest man in the world. He was once famously asked by a reporter, “How much money is enough money?” Rockefeller replied, “Just a little bit more.” More can never satisfy.

Of course, we don’t need to look at the lives of others to understand this phenomenon. One look in the mirror reveals the same motivation inside us.

The average American home has tripled in size in the last 50 years and continues to grow larger and larger. The average American woman owns 4X the amount of clothes as her grandmother, but continues to purchase. The average American home has 300,000 items inside it… and yet Amazon arrives on our doorstep several times each week.

When more is the goal, we will never find contentment. More is always a moving target. Never fully attainable.

We live life with only two options. We can continue to pursue more. We can believe there is a better life waiting if we were just to acquire more money, more property, more fame. Or we can reject the false notion that more is needed to discover happiness. And we can find contentment in our circumstances and gratitude for the blessings we already possess.

We can best arrive at the second by turning to scripture. True, biblical contentment is a conviction that Christ’s power, purpose and provision is sufficient for every circumstance. We are to learn how to walk through all kinds of adversity believing in and experiencing Christ’s sufficiency.

Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart. (Psalm 37:4)

The choice is yours.

As for me, I’ll choose contentment with less.

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SOMETIMES TRUE STORIES

Easy religions always appeal to the flesh because they don’t require a denial of self. Yet what did Jesus give as the first requirement for someone who wanted to follow Him? “Deny yourself.” I cannot live after the Spirit and after the flesh. These two things are contrary.

• Easy religions will never bring you to the true and living, eternal Creator.

• Easy religions might please my flesh, but they do not please God. In seeking my own pleasure, I lose His. If you follow these easy religions, you will find yourself alienated from the true God as you seek to make a god out of yourself.

• The path into eternal life begins at the cross; you can’t escape it. It is a straight path. It is a narrow path. But it leads to eternal life. Dan Shock

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WORDS OF WISDOM:

“I must study politics and war, that our sons may have liberty to study mathematics and philosophy. Our sons ought to study mathematics and philosophy, geography, natural history and naval architecture, navigation, commerce and agriculture in order to give their children a right to study painting, poetry, music, architecture, statuary, tapestry and porcelain.” —JOHN ADAMS

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QUOTES YOU CAN USE

The greatest cure for discouragement is to get busy doing God’s work. Dan Shock

A strong, positive self-image is the best possible preparation for success. JOYCE BROTHERS

If you don’t read the newspaper you are uninformed, if you do read the newspaper you are misinformed. Mark Twain

I contend that for a nation to try to tax itself into prosperity is like a man standing in a bucket and trying to lift himself up by the handle. Winston Churchill

Some claim to be Christians don’t understand the gospel of substitution because they still believe in a gospel of self-salvation. Ken Whitten

Keep your face always toward the sunshine—and shadows will fall behind you. WALT WHITMAN

If we can’t live on 90% of our income, we probably can’t live on 100% either. Dave Ramsey