Tag: Contentment

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The Old Saw

Daily Reading

Psalm 21-25

Daily Thought

Something broke at my parent’s house and I needed tools, so I went to my dad’s workbench in the garage. I easily found the hammer because it was hanging in the same spot it has hung for forty years. One hammer. I thought of my tool chest where there are two identical hammers. In fact, I have two of lots of things, two of too much. There on the wall was my dad’s old circular saw, the same old drill, the same old level. I could keep going. It was a pleasant trip of nostalgia because I had used many of these tools as a teenager.

I buy a lot of backups and upgrades, and my dad does not, and his life is better for it. It is not that he is stripped to his mere needs, but his life is free of wants and full of delights because he delights in what he has. I delight in what is new, and therefore I want what’s next and what’s different. I want too much because I delight in too little.

The most familiar Psalm begins, “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want” (Psalm 23:1), and the next line is telling, “He makes me…” (Psalm 23:2). I do not go on my own, but I am learning to follow my shepherd, and he leads me not to my wants or even my needs, but to his delights. Somehow green pastures and still waters restore my soul. I thought a full life meant having more, but it doesn’t. I have two of too many things.

Daily Prayer

Loving God, You promise a life that is full, even overflowing. My life is full of clutter. Let’s clean it up. God, teach me to love what You love, to share Your delights, to seek righteousness and goodness and purity and beauty and truth, things of eternity more than things of today.

May I pursue the One that I truly need, the One who fills my heart, the One who created me and leads me in the right direction. I love what You promise, that if I follow You, goodness and mercy will follow me all the days of my life. That is what I want!

Amen

Daily Question

What can you do to appreciate what you have more than what you want?

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Cut the Cake

Daily Reading

Psalm 9-16

Daily Thought

It’s supposed to be a fair system, one which puts an end to arguments. One child cuts the cake, the other chooses the first piece. It should have worked. It’s not difficult to draw a line down the middle, but neither child was looking for fair. The trick was to cut the cake at a slant so one piece looks bigger, but is actually smaller. Both children sought the advantage and neither wanted mom cutting the cake because she might be fair. And, to be honest, neither wants more cake–just more than the other.

Nothing’s changed. Watch Congress reline the districts or nations draw up treaties. No one aims for fair and there are no straight lines. The Hatfields and McCoys keep fighting not to get even, but to get even plus a little more. “Ties,” snarls the football coach, “are like kissing your sister.” The system favors the devils. “Nice guys finish last” is how Leo Durocher saw it. So, nasty ones finish first? “For the wicked boasts of the desires of his soul. His ways prosper at all times” (Psalm 10:3, 5), and for a time, it seems, the wicked win. That’s our system, the system of advantage, of fair plus a little more. “The one greedy for gain curses and renounces the Lord. In the pride of his face the wicked does not seek him; all his thoughts are, ‘There is no God’” (Psalm 10:3-4). We don’t want mom cutting the cake, and he gets the bigger piece, for awhile. 

But not the better piece. Who cares about more cake! “The Lord is my chosen portion and my cup; you hold my lot. The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; indeed, I have a beautiful inheritance” (Psalm 16:5-6).

Daily Prayer

My God, there is nothing in this world that satisfies me. For a brief time, I find something fun, but then I want something more or something else, and I spend my life looking. Until I found You, or I should say, You found me. I wasn’t looking for You, but when You showed up, suddenly there was peace and contentment, strength and worth, a hope and a future. Now I have nothing to gain because You are all I seek. And I have nothing to lose because You provide all I need. I have stopped looking and started living. The life You give is truly abundant and overflowing.

You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore (Psalm 16:11).

Amen