“But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” Matthew 6:33 (NIV)

When I was a teenager, my Sunday School teacher gave each student in class an index card that contained a picture of a nice house and car, and she had written in a yearly income figure. Some of the houses and cars were really big and fancy while others were smaller but still nice. Of course, this was all just for illustration purposes.

She then told us that we could trade cards with others in the class if we didn’t like the card the we had received. As you can probably imagine, almost everyone in the class thought that something on one of their classmates cards was better than what was on their own card.

One girl, however, did not even try to trade. When the teacher asked her why she didn’t trade with the other students, her remark was, “I’m happy with what I have.” Now, she didn’t have the nicest house, greatest car or the largest income, but what she did have was contentment.

In this world, it is sometimes very hard to be content with what we have because everywhere we look, we see ads and television programs that tell us we need more things and better things. Many of these things are nice, but we should remember that all the wealth in the world cannot bring happiness, nor can it be taken with us when we leave this world.

We must find our riches in Christ and the eternal gifts that only He can provide. If we seek God first in our lives and make Him number one, we will be able to find contentment in not only materialistic aspects of our lives, but more importantly the spiritual aspects.

I’m not saying that we should not work to better ourselves or that having nice things is wrong. God blesses us with many of these things. The key is to always remember to be thankful and never let anything come before God. Only in contentment can we find perfect peace and true happiness.

Prayer Time: Ask God to help you find contentment with what you have and to always remember to put Him first in your life.

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Posted on May 3rd, 2009 in Mom's Corner | 3 Comments

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3 Comments

• Thea says:

  May 3, 2009 at 6:50 pm

  What a wonderful devotion and reminder of how we should be happy with what we have…especially now! Thanks for sharing…btw I found your blog through your button on the creative mama blog.

  Thea’s last blog post..Field Trip!

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• Amanda @ Mrs.W's Kitchen says:

  May 4, 2009 at 12:43 pm

  What a great reminder. Thank you.

  Reply
• Jenn @ Beautiful Calling says:

  May 4, 2009 at 8:21 pm

  A great reminder. I like to think that I am content but every so often, I think “Oh, I need that!”…but do I really??

  I’m participating in the Spring Cleaning Party at simplemom.net and as I am going through de-cluttering I am seeing many more benefits to having less…something I am aiming to do!

  Jenn @ Beautiful Calling’s last blog post..Busy, Busy

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