As a Rule<\/b><\/p>\n
As a rule, Man\u2019s a fool When it\u2019s hot, He wants it cool. And when it\u2019s cool, He wants it hot, Always wanting What is not.<\/p>\n
Bits & Pieces, June 22, 1995, p. 5<\/p>\n
William Randolph Hearst<\/b><\/p>\n
William Randolph Hearst invested a fortune collecting art treasures from around the world. One day Mr. Hearst read the description of a valuable art item which he sent his agent abroad to find. After months of searching, the agent reported that he had finally found the treasure. To the surprise of Hearst, the priceless masterpiece was stored in none other than the warehouse of William Randolph Hearst.<\/p>\n
The multi-millionaire had been searching all over the world for a treasure he already possessed. Had he read the catalog of his treasures, he would have saved himself a lot of time and money.<\/p>\n
Today in the Word, December 13, 1995, p. 20.<\/p>\n
Tic Tac Owe<\/b><\/p>\n
Game show veteran Wink Martindale is back, hosting \u201cDebt\u201d on the Lifetime cable network beginning next week. Contestants arrive with between $6,000 and $10,000 in debt\u2014from credit cards, student loans and car loans\u2014and try to head into the black by answering pop-culture questions. Instead of taking home TV\u2019s or bedroom sets, players get a chance to win up to twice what they owe. \u201cThe reason contestants are in debt in the first place is that people have already gone out and bought these prizes,\u201d says Martindale. What about the folks who pay their bills on time? \u201cBuy the time-share you\u2019ve always wanted and then come see us,\u201d suggests senior producer Andrew Golder. \u201cOr just enjoy the drama of watching others trying to escape the pit you were smart enough to avoid.\u201d<\/p>\n
U.S.News & World Report, June 3, 1996, p. 13.<\/p>\n
Contentment (Phil 4:11)<\/b><\/p>\n
Fierce passions discompose the mind, As tempests vex the sea; But calm content and peace we find, When, Lord, we turn to Thee.<\/p>\n
In vain by reason and by rule We try to bend the will; For none but in the Saviour\u2019s school Can learn the heavenly skill.<\/p>\n
Since at His feet my soul has sate, His gracious words to hear, Contented with my present state, I cast on Him my care.<\/p>\n
\u201cArt thou a sinner, soul?\u201d He said, \u201cThen how canst thou complain! How light thy troubles here, if weigh\u2019d With everlasting pain!<\/p>\n
\u201cIf thou of murmuring wouldst be cured, Compare thy griefs with mine; Think what my love for thee endured, And thou wilt not repine.<\/p>\n
\u201c\u2018Tis I appoint thy daily lot, And I do all things well; Thou soon shalt leave this wretched spot, And rise with me to dwell.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn life my grace shall strength supply, Proportion\u2019d to thy day; At death thou [still] shalt find me nigh, To wipe thy tears away.\u201d<\/p>\n
Thus I, who once my wretched days In vain repinings spent, Taught in my Saviour\u2019s school of grace, Have learnt to be content.<\/p>\n
Olney Hymns, by William Cowper, from Cowper\u2019s Poems, Sheldon & Company, New York<\/p>\n
A Definition<\/b><\/p>\n
\u201cContent makes poor men rich; discontent makes rich men poor.\u201d – Benjamin Franklin<\/p>\n
Source unknown<\/p>\n
Arsenius<\/b><\/p>\n
In the fifth century, a man named Arsenius determined to live a holy life. So he abandoned the conforms of Egyptian society to follow an austere lifestyle in the desert. Yet whenever he visited the great city of Alexandria, he spent time wandering through its bazaars. Asked why, he explained that his heart rejoiced at the sight of all the things he didn\u2019t need.<\/p>\n
Those of us who live in a society flooded with goods and gadgets need to ponder the example of that desert dweller. A typical supermarket in the United States in 1976 stocked 9,000 articles; today it carries 30,000. How many of them are absolutely essential? How many superfluous?<\/p>\n
Our Daily Bread, May 26, 1994<\/p>\n
Lazy Fisherman<\/b><\/p>\n
Philip Parham tells the story of a rich industrialist who was disturbed to find a fisherman sitting lazily beside his boat. \u201cWhy aren\u2019t you out there fishing?\u201d he asked.<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause I\u2019ve caught enough fish for today,\u201d said the fisherman.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy don\u2019t you catch more fish than you need?\u2019 the rich man asked.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat would I do with them?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou could earn more money,\u201d came the impatient reply, \u201cand buy a better boat so you could go deeper and catch more fish. You could purchase nylon nets, catch even more fish, and make more money. Soon you\u2019d have a fleet of boats and be rich like me.\u201d<\/p>\n
The fisherman asked, \u201cThen what would I do?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou could sit down and enjoy life,\u201d said the industrialist.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat do you think I\u2019m doing now?\u201d the fisherman replied as he looked placidly out to sea.<\/p>\n
Our Daily Bread, May 18, 1994<\/p>\n
Dream On<\/b><\/p>\n
Postwar Americans always cherished the expectation that their standard of living would improve with each generation. In polls at the onset of the Reagan era, 2 of every 3 respondents said they expected to be better off than their parents. Now, that figure is being reversed. Almost three fourths of the 1,000 people who answered a Roper poll for Shearson Lehman Brothers say the American Dream is \u201charder to attain\u201d than a generation ago. And 60 percent say achieving the dream requires more financial risk than it did for their parents. The poll also finds that some of the values held most dear during the 1980s\u2014like wealth, power and fame\u2014are those that Americans are now most likely to deem \u201cunimportant.\u201d The most important elements of today\u2019s American Dream center on family and friends. But money remains something to dream about. For Americans with household incomes under $25,000, it would take $54,000 a year to fulfill the American dream. Those who make $100,000 plus crave an average of $192,000. In other words, the American Dream usually lies nearly twice the distance away.<\/p>\n
Amy Bernstein, U.S. News & World Report, July 27, 1992, p. 11<\/p>\n
Be Content<\/b><\/p>\n
Be content with what you have, never with what you are.<\/p>\n
Source unknown<\/p>\n
Ali Hafed<\/b><\/p>\n
Years ago, Russell Conwell told of an ancient Persian, Ali Hafed, who \u201cowned a very large farm that had orchards, grain fields, and gardens… and was a wealthy contented man.\u201d One day a wise man from the East told the farmer all about diamonds and how wealthy he would be if he owned a diamond mine. Ali Hafed went to bed that night a poor man\u2014poor because he was discontented. Craving a mine of diamonds, he sold his farm to search for the rare stones. He traveled the world over, finally becoming so poor, broken, and defeated that he committed suicide. One day the man who purchased Ali Hafed\u2019s farm led his camel into the garden to drink. As his camel put its nose into the brook, the man saw a flash of light from the sands of the stream. He pulled out a stone that reflected all the hues of the rainbow. The man had discovered the diamond mine of Golcanda, the most magnificent mine in all history. Had Ali Hafed remained at home and dug in his own garden, then instead of death in a strange land, he would have had acres of diamonds. <\/p>\n
G. Sweeting, in May, 1988 Moody Monthly, p. 95.<\/p>\n
He That Is . . .<\/b><\/p>\n
He that is down needs fear no fall; He that is low, no pride; He that is humble, ever shall Have God to be his guide.<\/p>\n
I am content with what I have, Little be it, or much; And, Lord, contentment still I crave, Because Thou savest such.<\/p>\n
John Bunyan, quoted in Anthology of Jesus<\/p>\n
The Goldbergs<\/b><\/p>\n
A number of years ago there was a popular program called The Goldbergs. In one episode, Jake Goldberg came home for supper and excitedly told his wife, Molly, about a great idea he had. He wanted to go into business. Molly had some money put away, anticipating just such a thing, and she gave it to him. As they sat at the dinner table, enthusiastically discussing the future, Jake said, \u201cMolly, some day we\u2019ll be eating off of golden plates!\u201d Molly looked at him and replied, \u201cJake, darling, will it taste any better?\u201d<\/p>\n
Source unknown<\/p>\n
House For Sale<\/b><\/p>\n
A man became envious of his friends because they had larger and more luxurious homes. So he listed his house with a real estate firm, planning to sell it and to purchase a more impressive home. Shortly afterward, as he was reading the classified section of the newspaper, he saw an ad for a house that seemed just right. He promptly called the realtor and said, \u201cA house described in today\u2019s paper is exactly what I\u2019m looking for. I would like to go through it as soon as possible!\u201d The agent asked him several questions about it and then replied, \u201cBut sir, that\u2019s your house your describing.\u201d<\/p>\n
Source unknown<\/p>\n
Enjoy the Scenery<\/b><\/p>\n
A contented man is one who enjoys the scenery along the detours.<\/p>\n
Source unknown<\/p>\n
Urgent Message<\/b><\/p>\n
Before movie companies were careful about Swahili translations\u2014assuming no one in the U.S. would understand\u2014a director needed an African messenger who was to gasp out a sentence to the big chief, collapsing as he delivered his message, since he had run for days with his vital news. A local Englishman who spoke Swahili was asked to write an urgent-sounding sentence in the language. He did, tongue in cheek. An American actor played the part beautifully. All went well until the movie was shown in Nairobi (where everyone spoke Swahili, of course). The drama of the moment was reduced to high comedy. What the messenger actually said as he threw himself, exhausted, before the chief was, \u201cI do not think I am getting paid enough money for this part.\u201d <\/p>\n
Elephant Have Right of Way, B. and J. Leslie-Melville<\/p>\n
Friendly Neighbor<\/b><\/p>\n
Leaning on his fence one day, a devout Quaker was watching a new neighbor move in next door. After all kinds of modern appliances, electronic gadgets, plush furniture, and costly wall hangings had been carried in, the onlooker called over, \u201cIf you find you\u2019re lacking anything, neighbor, let me know and I\u2019ll show you how to live without it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Source unknown<\/p>\n
One Liners<\/b><\/p>\n
\u2022 No person can ever be happy until he has learned to enjoy what he has and not to worry over what he does not have.<\/p>\n
\u2022 I had no shoes and complained until I met a man who had no feet. <\/p>\n
\u2022 Discontentment makes rich men poor, while contentment makes poor men rich.<\/p>\n
Source unknown<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
As a Rule As a rule, Man\u2019s a fool When it\u2019s hot, He wants it cool. And when it\u2019s cool, He wants it hot, Always wanting What is not. Bits & Pieces, June 22, 1995, p. 5 William Randolph Hearst William Randolph Hearst invested a fortune collecting art treasures from around the world. One day … Continue reading “Contentment”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-541","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sermons"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/541","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=541"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/541\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=541"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=541"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=541"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}