To be content is un-American

Philippians 4:10-13

The un-American thought, to be content no matter what situation you might find yourself in.  That’s just not the way we have been trained, we allow our children to tell us they are bored, and they understand the meaning of the word; they are irritable, because they need something to do.  A wise parent would have a preset list of things they could do like; go clean your room, take out the garbage, go pull weeds from the flowerbeds, and that is just the short list.  Somewhere we have lost sight of the goals, we have been called to serve, not be served.  Verse 12 is totally strange to us, but what if you not only understood verse twelve, but also were living it out.  Then verse thirteen, the verse we have heard often from preachers, would not just be words, it would be life.

“I can do all things through him who strengthens me.” (Philippians 4:13)  And the great news is we can, but, and don’t you hate those buts, we can by allowing Christ to be the Lord of our life, and when He is Lord, we come to the understanding that God is building His character into our life, in the good times and bad. 

I have always been intrigued with men who walked with God, I’ve known only a few, and they all had one thing in common, they lived out verse twelve.  The apostle Paul was not paying a complement to the church at Corinth, when he made this statement, “We are fools for Christ’s sake, but you are wise in Christ.  We are weak, but you are so strong.  You are held in honor, but we in disrepute.”  (I Corinthians 4:10)  Paul was living out verse 12, and the by-product is, abiding in Christ, letting Him live His life in you.

If our great God allows our situation to change, so that we truly find ourselves hungry and thirsty, poorly dressed and homeless, and we are forced to labor with our hands, and if we are slandered, and even persecuted, will we bless?  Christians, this may be our situation, it will be very different, but it will not be boring.  But, it will only happen to those who have been crucified with Christ, and they no longer live, but it is Christ who lives in them.  They will live out verse thirteen.

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice