the gift of contentment

We have been “getting older” from that first day when we opened our eyes to see what sort of place it was where we were to spend our days. And there is another sort of “getting older” as we find ourselves preparing for our transfer to eternity. This second period is decidedly different in a number of ways, the chief being a growing appreciation for the exciting experience of life itself. Granted, this is not true for all, but God does allow most a selective review of life that focuses on the pleasant and the positive. This rear-view appraisal has been strong recently in my days and there is one theme that seems always to rise to the top. And what is that? (Read on).
       I have become increasingly thankful for this journey of life. Most of the stops along the way have been highly rewarding. (You probably have the same sense of gratitude as I although no two of us ever live identical lives. You, my friend, are one of a kind.) Were I to list those experiences for which I am most grateful, it would include everything from my Navy wings to a book well written. I am thankful for being given the physical ability to fly a combat aircraft, and the mental alertness to publish in a scholarly field. The necessary equipment in both was a gift. Then there is family and friends, opportunity and spiritual life.
       Then there is one for which I am especially grateful and that is an ever-increasing sense of contentment. Someone noted, “Contentment is not the fulfillment of what you want, but the realization of how much you already have.”  And the “what-you-have’s” of life are without number. So, it is strange, is it not, that we still seem to want more. Well, it is strange until we remember who we are. Remember that Adam had it all, yet there was one more thing that he wanted and that was freedom from God’s one restriction – “You must not eat fruit from the tree in the middle of the garden or you will die” (Gen. 3:3). But he went ahead anyway. Adam wanted more and in the process determined the nature of the human race. But there is one more really import thing for which we can be thankful, and that is God’s gift of salvation for those who will accept it.